The Youkai Strength Competition
by Shadow's Mirror
Summary: The Feudal Era Youkai Strength Challenge has begun to find out which of the competing youkai is the strongest. complete
1. Meet the Competitors

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Inu-Yasha - A Feudal Fairytale and all related characters are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi.

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The Youkai Strength Competition  
Chapter 1: Meet the Competitors  
By Shadow's Mirror

It was the third day of the first annual Youkai Strength Competition. So far, youkai from all over the world had competed in various events, testing their strength and just generally showing off their skills, or lack thereof, to the watching crowds. But today was special. The massive stadium was packed full to bursting with tens of thousands of cheering spectators of all shapes, sizes and varying degrees of humanity. All of them waiting in eager anticipation for the Competition's main event. 

All of the competitors had been brought through time from over 500 years in the past, especially to compete in the event, which would test them in two areas. Determination to survive and sheer strength. To keep things perfectly fair, all of the competitors were allowed to use only the items that they normally used in their day-to-day battles in their own time. 

The announcer for the event looked like a young boy of around 12. He was small and slight with black hair that fell down past his shoulders in tousled waves, unusual eyes of black that gradually shifted to a deep midnight-blue at the outermost edge, and pointed ears like those of a full-blood youkai. He was dressed completely in black. Black ankle-height boots, black breeches, black tunic, black cape… even his sword sheath and the hilt of the blade it held were black! 

As he peered at the microphone in front of him, the announcer's eyes narrowed. "Is this thing on?" He winced as his voice filled the stadium, accompanied by a loud screech of static. 

"Ladies, Gentlemen, Time-travelling Schoolgirls, Exterminators, Perverted Monks, Cute Little Girls, Priestesses, Undead Priestesses and Youkai of all ages, descriptions and degrees of good and evil! Welcome to the event you have all been waiting for! Yes, it's time for the Feudal Era Youkai Strength Challenge!"

The announcer waited for the cheers and applause to die down before he continued. "Now to meet today's competitors! Remember, these youkai are all vying for the honour of being known as the Strongest Youkai in the Feudal Era." He waved his hand and a small burst of dark energy shot from his fingertips to the contest field, where the competitors were waiting. As the announcer introduced each of them, the dark energy hovered above their heads and spelled out their names.

"First off, from the hidden mansion of miasma, we have the completely corrupted, the eternally evil, the bemusingly baboon-pelted, the one and, thankfully, only… Naraku!" 

The crowd booed and hissed as the figure in the shapeless white baboon pelt stepped forward. He suddenly pulled at his pelt, tugging it off and throwing it aside to reveal a tall, handsome man garbed in a midnight blue kimono. He flicked his long black hair back over his shoulder and looked in mocking amusement at the suddenly silent crowd. He smirked and several fangirls in the front row fainted in delight. 

"Next, originally also from the hidden mansion of miasma, but most recently from a very well hidden cave somewhere… Yes folks, you've seen her suspiciously soulless stare many a time, now please make her feel welcome… Naraku's dutiful daughter, Kanna!"

There was a polite round of applause as the small white-haired girl in the white kimono slowly stepped forward. She stared straight ahead, her wide eyes as blank and pupil-less as those of the human boy who's mind Naraku controlled. From the calm way she stood staring straight ahead, it was debatable if she even knew what was going on around her. 

"Now, from the caves of the Wolf Tribe, behind the waterfall, how about a round of applause for that whirling dervish, that irrepressible Romeo, the wily, the oblivious… Kouga!"

The young wolf-youkai stepped forward with a smug smile on his handsome face. He raised one hand in a casual wave and the stands erupted with screams from the hoards of fangirls who had come to the competition especially for that moment. Quite a few of the watching youkai either jumped in alarm or clapped their hands over their sensitive ears in pain at the shrill sounds. Other youkai glared at the screamers and started planning menus containing recipes like Fangirl Flambé. The youkai disguised as fangirls, so they could scream at their idols without suffering the embarrassment of being recognised as being youkai, noticed the glares and made mental notes to keep their swords and other weapons close at hand for the rest of the day.

"Fresh from Kaede's Village… he's small, he's cute, he's smart and he's an expert at riding on shoulders and in bicycle baskets. Give it up for the clever kitsune, the fiery fox-youkai… Shippo!" 

The little kitsune smiled happily as he bounced forward and waved at the crowd. The air instantly filled with cries of 'Awww, he's so cute!', 'Kawaii!!!', 'Isn't he adorable?', 'Don't you just want to hug him?' and 'His tail! His tail!'. Shippo's smile became smug. He turned to glance at the next contestant, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "They like me."

"Also from Kaede's Village… he's tough, he's rough, he's the bad boy with the heart of gold, the puppy with the power and the ears you can't resist rubbing… yes folks, it's time for Inu-Yasha!" 

As the stands again erupted with screams and cries from the fangirls, the boy in the red outfit moved to stand beside Shippo. He glared down at the kitsune, who's smug smile suddenly turned to worry. "You wouldn't… not in front of… Ow!" As Shippo clutched the bump on his head, Inu-Yasha turned his attention to the crowd. He frowned for a moment as his ears twitched, then he smirked at the now-scowling Kouga. The fangirls were screaming much more loudly for him than they had for the wolf-youkai! But Inu-Yasha's moment of smugness was interrupted as Shippo's cry suddenly rose over the screams from the crowd. 

"Kagome!!!! He hit me!!!!"

"Inu-Yasha! Sit!"

A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd as Inu-Yasha hit the ground face-first. He quickly jumped back to his feet and glared at the girl sitting in the front row nearby. Crossing his arms, he turned his glare onto the smug kitsune, who started edging warily away from him.

The announcer blinked at the sheet of paper in his hand, unable to believe his eyes at the next name on his list. But… it seemed to be true since he was standing on the field with the other competitors. "Next up is… Jaken." The announcer shrugged. "Hey, I don't pick them, I just announce them!"

Jaken, the small, green servant of Sesshoumaru, who looked like a toad wearing a brown kimono and hat, glared at the announcer as he moved forward. Snickers ran through the crowd and he turned his outraged glare towards the stands. Distracted, he failed to notice the rock lying in the otherwise perfectly smooth grass of the well-tended field. As he tripped over the rock, the snickers turned to peals of laughter. Jaken sighed as he lay on the ground. "Why me?" he muttered. 

"From the dungeons of the hidden mansion of miasma… She's beautiful, she's delightful, she's dangerous and she's completely heartless. Literally. She is the wind… Kagura!"

As the tall and slender female youkai stepped gracefully forward, it was the turn of all of the male fans in the crowd to get excited. They started whistling and shouting in adoration of the beautiful woman. A slight smile crossed her face as she held out her fan. Expertly flipping it open, she moved the fan up in front of her face and looked coyly at the cheering crowd over the top of it. She then ignored her father's amused chuckle and the irritated snort from the small creature beside her. 

"He is every hairdresser's dream, every cat's nightmare and he's won the Best Dressed Youkai award for 100 years running… Let's hear it for that beautiful bishounen, that most manly of men, the fabulously fluffy and fashionable… Sesshoumaru!"

His long silvery-white hair flowed out behind him as he moved to stand beside Kagura. His face remained as coolly emotionless as always as the crowd went wild. The evil youkai cheered because they knew how dangerous he was and had no wish to offend him. The good youkai cheered because they remembered how he had fought off the Cat youkai, twice, and how much they owed him for that. They were also scared stiff of him and definitely did not want to offend him. The fangirls (and fan-youkai disguised as fangirls) cheered because he was fluffy. 

Kagura glanced at him and allowed her ruby eyes to wander over his perfection for a moment before she spoke quietly. "You're popular." Sesshoumaru glanced at her but did not reply.

An indignant snort came from Kagura's other side. "Of course he is! He's Sesshoumaru-sama! There is no youkai… or pathetic half-youkai… more popular than he!" 

Kagura looked down at Jaken in amusement. The little toad-youkai was so busy gazing in adoration at his master and idol that he completely failed to notice the fact that Inu-Yasha was standing right behind him, glaring at him furiously and rolling up his sleeve in preparation for a bit of revenge. Kagura's eyes gleamed in wicked amusement when she noticed that Naraku wasn't too pleased by the minion's 'pathetic half-youkai' comment either. 

"You know, you really should choose your comments more carefully. You tend to live longer that way," she remarked softly, but Jaken was too busy lying on the grass and groaning to respond. 

Inu-Yasha smirked as he rolled his sleeve back down, although the look didn't quite reach his amber eyes. His ears kept flicking as the crowd continued their applause for Sesshoumaru. Although he'd taken out some of his annoyance on Jaken, one light tap on the head wasn't enough to completely ease his irritation that his older brother was receiving more applause than he had.

On the bright side though, Kouga was even more annoyed by it. Inu-Yasha's own annoyance faded into a snicker as he glanced at the wolf-youkai and saw how furiously he was glaring at the crowd. 

The announcer waited until the crowd began to calm down, then he spoke again. "The first elimination round will begin in a few minutes. Will the competitors please take their places."

As he spoke, a glowing ball of bluish-white light zipped across the field until it stopped, hovering a few feet above the ground in front of the competitors. The ball of light became a shining figure, then the light faded to reveal a small form. The figure was about the same height as the announcer but nothing more could be seen because the figure was covered from head to toe in a hooded grey cape. 

The Challenge's official Judge, and the one who would be testing the strength of the competitors, had arrived.

To be continued…


	2. The First Round

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Inu-Yasha - A Feudal Fairytale and all related characters are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi.

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The Youkai Strength Competition  
Chapter 2: The First Round  
By Shadow's Mirror

The watching crowd fell silent as the eight competitors took up their positions. Markers had been set out across the field, spaced a few metres apart to give each competitor room to maneuver when they needed it. As soon as all eight were standing on their markers, the announcer spoke up.

"Before we begin, I'll run through the rules of the Challenge. Each round, our official Judge will test each competitor in order, using a pre-determined attack. At the end of each round, all surviving competitors will go on to the next round, while anyone else will be out of the competition. The last competitor left standing will be declared the winner. To keep things interesting through, each round will have specific instructions and will test a different part of the competitor's overall power. The Judge will also use a different attack during each round, with the attacks getting stronger as the competition progresses. Finally, any competitor who disobeys the rules of each round, or who is found to be cheating in any way, will be immediately disqualified." 

The announcer gave Naraku a very long look as he said that. Naraku smirked slightly in response. 

"The first round will test the competitors' defensive power. For this round, all competitors are permitted to defend themselves against the attack in whatever way they wish. This includes the use of any objects they have for this purpose. They are not, however, permitted to duck, jump, step aside or otherwise evade the attack. Each competitor must remain on their marker for their entire turn against the Judge. They are also not permitted to retaliate!" 

This time, it was Kouga and Inu-Yasha who received the long looks from the announcer. Kouga smirked as though he didn't care and Inu-Yasha looked bored. "Can we just get on with it already?" he called out impatiently. 

The announcer sighed. It was obviously going to be a long day. "For this round, the Judge's attack will be… the Claws of Light! Competitors! Are you ready?"

As the others, except for Sesshoumaru since he didn't consider such actions to be dignified for a youkai of his lineage and power, shouted 'yes', Inu-Yasha glared at the announcer. "What do you mean, are we ready? We've been waiting for you to finish talking for the past ten minutes!" 

Ignoring the heckling Hanyou, the announcer turned to the crowd. "What do you think everyone? Are you ready to see these seven powerful youkai… and Jaken… go up against the Judge?" 

In the resulting chaos of cheers, yells, shouts, whistles and screams that followed, Jaken's cry of protest went completely unheard. He was still grumbling by the time the noise died down enough for the announcer to be heard. "Then let the first round of the Feudal Era Youkai Strength Challenge commence!" 

As the crowd again went wild, the grey-cloaked figure that was the Judge moved to stand in front of the first competitor. As the Judge's arm began to rise, Naraku's eyes narrowed and he watched his would-be opponent carefully. So far, he had no idea who he was facing. The cloak hid everything about the Judge that might identify him… or her, for even that was impossible to tell. But when the Judge's arm was raised, his cloak would part and Naraku would be able to see… absolutely nothing! 

Naraku scowled in displeasure as the Judge's arm came out of a slit in the side of the cloak. The arm and hand were small, but that was to be expected since the Judge was no taller than a child of about 12. The arm was covered by a grey sleeve that left only the hand bare. Naraku frowned slightly as the Judge held the hand up and the long nails flashed in the sunlight. The extremely long, extremely sharp, nails…

The claws slashed through the air faster than Naraku had expected. He tensed, every instinct in his body telling him to use his miasma to melt the five small sparkling lights that streaked towards him, or to use his barrier to deflect them. Only the knowledge that everyone in the crowd was watching, and hoping that he'd make a fool of himself, prevented him from doing either. He refused to become a laughing stock and that was exactly what he would become if he defended himself against such a weak attack. With all his power, these pitiful whatever-they-were couldn't possibly have any effect against… 

He grunted as the five small lights struck him, slashing through his kimono as if it were nothing and leaving five long gashes on the skin beneath. Naraku forced himself not to wince, but it wasn't easy. For such little things, they packed quite a sting. Still, he pretended that he felt no pain at all as he forced an unconcerned smirk onto his face for the Judge's benefit. It had the added effect of causing the crowd to go wild with cheers and applause. 

The Judge moved to stand in front of Kanna. 

The small girl stood still and silent, her face remaining completely expressionless. It was as though she didn't even register that it was her turn and that she was expected to defend herself. But as the Judge's arm began to rise, she smoothly lifted her mirror in front of her.

Confused, the crowd fell silent, wondering what possible use a mirror could be against an attack. 

The Judge's claws slashed through the air, sending five small flashes of energy towards Kanna. A faint glow of light surrounded her and her hair and kimono fluttered slightly as though stirred by a breath of breeze. Then her mirror began to shine. The five lights changed course slightly, all now aiming directly for the radiant mirror in Kanna's hands. The watching crowd gasped in astonishment as the mirror drew the lights inside. There was a moment of stunned silence and then the crowd erupted in triumph. 

The Judge paused for a moment before moving on to the next competitor. Naraku's eyes narrowed at that. Perhaps the Judge hadn't been entirely fooled by Kanna's lack of response to the attack. 

The evil youkai glanced at his eldest daughter. She was as still and calm as ever, but her mirror was still glowing while the aura of light around her was quickly fading. Naraku knew what that meant. 

Normally, the mirror took in an attack and then reflected it out again, back at the one who had done it in the first place. But, since retaliation would have earned her elimination in this round, Kanna had been forced to keep the energy of the attack within her mirror. Apparently she was having a great deal of trouble doing so. That disturbed Naraku. More than he cared to admit.

He wasn't… concerned… about her. Not exactly. It was just that he didn't want the others to think that she was weak. He also wondered what it was about the Judge's supposedly weak attack that made it so blasted effective against both himself and Kanna! The attack was supposed to have the same effect on everyone, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't. He had half a mind to complain…

The Judge had reached the next competitor by the time the light in Kanna's mirror finally faded. 

Kouga smirked and then laughed as the Judge came to stand in front of him. "Give it your best shot!" He placed his hands on his hips and braced his legs apart. His dark eyes gleamed with anticipation as he confidently waited for the attack. "I can take whatever you can deal out!" 

As the Judge's arm rose and slashed through the air, all the fangirls (and fanyoukai) gasped in fear. Most of them covered their eyes, not wanting to see their beloved Kouga hurt. Some of the braver ones (and even a few of the fanyoukai) peeked through their fingers, unwilling to miss even a moment of watching their idol strut his stuff. 

When the five small darting lights struck Kouga, a collective gasp echoed through the massive stadium. When he remained standing, the gasp became a thunderous roar of approval that almost, but not quite, drowned out the wild squeals of all the fangirls (and fanyoukai) whose faith in their idol had just been confirmed. 

As the applause and cheers continued, the Judge peered at Kouga for a long moment. The crowd was too far away to see it, but the young wolf-youkai had not come through the attack unscathed. Five deep gashes marked his skin, each one deep enough to draw blood. Kouga's eyes were wide in shock and he'd frozen in place, clearly stunned by how powerful the deceptively innocent looking attack truly was. Still, the boy had come through the attack without fainting or dying, so that meant he'd made it through the first round. The Judge nodded and moved on to the next competitor, leaving Kouga to recover both his health and his nerve. 

Shippo trembled violently as the Judge approached him. "Hey, Shippo! Are you sure you want to go through with this?" The taunting note in Inu-Yasha's voice made Shippo glare at him. 

"Of course I'm sure! I'm a strong youkai! I can do this!" His determination lasted until he turned around and found the Judge standing opposite him. "I can… do this…" he repeated under his breath as he tried to convince himself. He took a deep breath and frowned in concentration as he gathered up as much power as he could.

As the Judge's arm rose, the frightened squeals of the watching fangirls (but not of the fanyoukai because no self-respecting youkai would ever squeal over a kitsune) filled the air. Cries of 'Oh, the poor little dear!', 'He's only a child! Don't hurt him!' and 'His tail! Mind his tail!' rang through the stadium. When the Judge slashed through the air, quite a few fangirls (and fanyoukai who decided that self-respect was highly overrated when it came to being free to squeal over a cute little kitsune) screamed. Several also fainted. Most of the watching crowd merely wondered why there had been a flash of light and puff of smoke as the attack had hit, when it hadn't had that effect on anyone else.

The Judge and other competitors tried to peer into the smoke but it was too thick to see what had happened. "Shippo? Hey! Shippo!" Even Inu-Yasha's shouts had no effect. He scratched his head in bewilderment and looked at the Judge. "Want me to fetch him out of there?" 

Before the Judge could respond, a brisk gust of wind blew past Inu-Yasha, causing his hair and robes to flutter madly. As it began to clear the smoke, he turned to blink at Kagura, who was holding her fan in her outstretched hand as she controlled the wind. 

Kagura shrugged. "What? I'm just as eager to get this over with as you are. It's as much in my best interests as yours to find out what's happened." 

When the smoke had been cleared, everyone blinked in surprise. Even the crowd fell silent as the watching audience wondered what in the world they were seeing. Shippo was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a small stone statue lay on top of the marker where he'd been standing. 

Inu-Yasha sighed and shook his head. "I don't believe it… he turned himself into an idol. That idiot! Why didn't he just use his Foxfyre to counter the attack?" 

Kagura stared at him in confusion. "Idol?" She looked back at the stone statue. "So that's what that thing is. Huh." She looked up at the Judge. "So… did the kid make it through or what?" 

The Judge had approached the small statue and was bending over it, studying it closely. A small hand emerged from the cloak and lightly touched the statue. When there was no response, the Judge tried tapping it a little harder. With a faint pop, the stone reverted to Shippo's usual form. The little kitsune lay on the ground, his eyes closed. 

"Huh? Shippo? Shippo! Stop playing! This is no time for… games…" Inu-Yasha had bounded over. He peered at Shippo and started to reach out, as though intending to shake him, but he hesitated. His hand was trembling very slightly. He looked at it for a moment, as though surprised, then he glared at Shippo. "Shippo! Get up right now!" 

"Oh yeah, that's really going to…" Kagura had also come over. She blinked in surprise as the little fox-youkai gave a very faint groan. She ignored the smug look Inu-Yasha gave her. "Huh. I guess he's still in the contest then. Since he survived the attack and all." Shrugging, she turned and started back to her marker. 

Inu-Yasha looked down at the small unconscious kitsune and then up at the Judge. He frowned slightly. "He couldn't take another attack like that."

A very soft voice, so soft that it was still unclear if it was male or female, came from within the depths of the grey hood. "I agree. If he awakes before the second round begins, I will give him the choice of continuing or not. If he is still unconscious at that time, he will be disqualified."

Inu-Yasha nodded, a look of relief on his face. "Fair enough." He suddenly grinned. "So… my turn now, hey?" 

Amusement coloured the Judge's voice. "Indeed. So you had best return to your marker before I get there and need to disqualify you." Inu-Yasha chuckled and bounded back to his position. 

The noise began as soon as the Judge stepped in front of Inu-Yasha. The crowd's cheers and applause rumbled through the stadium like thunder. The half-youkai grinned as he stood casually, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword. He knew how he'd take care of the little sparkly things. He could just stand there and take them, but there was no way he was doing the same thing as Naraku or Kouga! Besides, why get hurt if he didn't need to?

Tuning out the screaming crowd, Inu-Yasha focused on the Judge's arm as it was raised. The claws flashed in the same instant that Tetsusaiga was drawn from its scabbard. The sword flared into life, transforming into its true form of a massive fang, and Inu-Yasha swung it. The blade sliced through the five sparkling lights easily, dissolving them into stardust with its incredible power. Inu-Yasha sheathed the blade again and grinned as he allowed the sound of the crowd's admiration to distract him again. He raised one hand and waved it, cheerfully ignoring Kouga's glare as he did so. 

"Blasted dogface. How come he's getting more cheers than I did?" Kouga grumbled to himself. "Still… I'm the one who's hurt, so maybe Kagome will bandage me up again." He smirked at the thought of Inu-Yasha's face if that happened, and tried to ignore the way his heart pounded at the possibility of Kagome looking after him. 

Meanwhile, the Judge had taken up his position in front of Jaken. The small toad-like youkai was obviously nervous, but he braced himself and held up his staff in a surprisingly steady hand. 

Snickers and laughter started coming from the stands and Jaken's eyes narrowed in fury. As the Judge's arm began to rise, Jaken tensed. As the claws sent out their five dangerous lights, Jaken planted the base of the staff in the ground before him and drew himself up to his full, and not all that impressive, height. "Stop laughing at me!" he screamed. The male head on the staff suddenly released a massive blast of flame that enveloped all five of the lights, destroying them in a moment! 

The crowd fell silent in shock. 

The flames ceased and Jaken stood there, panting heavily and still looking rather angry. Suddenly, he blinked and it seemed to sink in that he'd just made it through to the second round. His face lit up with a delighted smile and he turned to look past Kagura at Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru-sama! I did it! Did you see me? I did it!" He hopped happily from foot to foot in an impromptu little dance.

Kagura blinked. "Well what do you know. The little toad actually managed to do it." She turned her attention from Jaken to the Judge as the cloaked figure moved to stand in front of her. 

Like Inu-Yasha, Kagura remained in a casual pose. The only signs of her alertness were the watchful look in her ruby eyes and the way she held her fan so that she could bring it into play the instant that she needed to. When the Judge's claws slashed through the air, she was ready. 

Before the five lights made it even halfway to her, Kagura had flipped her fan open. A red aura of power surrounded her as she summoned the winds to do her bidding. With graceful carelessness, she sent the winds to destroy the little bolts of energy. One, two, three, four… she frowned as the fifth one proved more insistent than the others had been. While the first four lights dissolved in the wild rush of her winds, the fifth light continued to head for her. She quickly caused the winds to shift, sending it off-course so it missed her completely. 

Kagura refolded her fan and smiled as the crowd roared their approval. She flicked a swift glance at Sesshoumaru, wondering what he had thought of her little show. As always though, nothing of his thoughts showed in his face. Shrugging to herself, she turned to smirk at Jaken. The irritating little toad was sure to be… asleep? 

"What in the world?" Kagura frowned at the small figure lying in the grass. "Um… what happened to him?" 

The Judge had been heading over to Sesshoumaru, but paused at Kagura's confused question. A moment later the Judge was bending over Jaken, examining him closely. "He's unconscious." 

"What? He was fine a moment ago…" Kagura frowned uneasily. She didn't particularly like Jaken, but she didn't like how he'd been fine one minute and unconscious the next, either!

"The Light Claw that you deflected appears to have struck him." 

Kagura winced. She honestly hadn't meant to do it. She'd just deflected the stupid thing. It wasn't her fault that the idiot toad had been too busy trying to get his hero Sesshoumaru's attention to see the wayward light coming straight for him! 

Thinking of Sesshoumaru, Kagura glanced at him, wondering how upset he was over it. He seemed as undisturbed as ever, but that didn't mean much. Kagura didn't think that he ever showed much emotion. At least, not that she'd seen. Before she could think about it any more though, Inu-Yasha's voice cut in to her thoughts. 

"Ouch. Bad luck. But he's still going through the next round, right? I mean, he did survive your attack." Inu-Yasha peered at Jaken and then looked curiously at the Judge. 

"Technically, yes. If he returns to consciousness by the second round, he will be able to participate. If not…" The cloaked figure shrugged and the others nodded. There really wasn't anything else that could be done. He couldn't participate if he was unconscious, after all. 

The Judge finally took up position opposite Sesshoumaru. The white-haired youkai lord regarded the cloaked figure as calmly as if nothing unusual had just happened. Apparently he didn't feel anything in regards to Jaken's little accident… or did he? The Judge peered more intently into the golden eyes, wondering if the mild concern that seemed to be showing there was nothing more than a trick of the light. Shrugging aside the thought, the Judge prepared to perform the Claws of Light attack for the last time in that round.

Sesshoumaru stood perfectly still and calm as the Judge's hand rose and five bolts of light burst from five sharp claws. He didn't move so much as an eyelash as the five lights headed straight for him. Why would he waste any effort or energy defending himself against an attack that he knew would cause little injury? The crowd's collective gasp filled the air, as it looked certain that the lights would hit their target. 

A pure white light flared around Sesshoumaru, completely surrounding him. The five sparkling lights fizzled away to stardust as soon as they touched the protective barrier. With the danger gone, the light faded. Sesshoumaru blinked and looked faintly surprised as he glanced down to the elder of the two swords resting at his hip. 

"So… Tenseiga… you chose to protect me." The Judge barely heard Sesshoumaru's soft comment. That wasn't surprising since the youkai lord hadn't intended to say it aloud. 

The announcer waited until the wild roar of the crowd died down before speaking. 

"That ends the first round of the Challenge! The second round will begin shortly. Competitors, you may take a brief break to see to any wounds you have received."

Inu-Yasha bounded over to Shippo and picked him up. The little kitsune groaned and his eyes blinked open. "I… Inu-Yasha… Did I… win?" 

The half-youkai smiled slightly, more relieved than he would admit. "Not really. You fainted. What possessed you to transform instead of using your Foxfyre?"

Shippo smiled slightly and Inu-Yasha blinked at the sudden knowledge in the small fox-youkai's eyes. "My Foxfyre wasn't strong enough to take out all five of them. Even one would have killed me. But my idol form is stronger than my regular form. I knew I wouldn't be hurt as badly."

Inu-Yasha blinked. He was mildly impressed at his small friend's strategy. "Well, it worked. You fainted, but you did better than Jaken. You took all five of them but still woke up before the second round. Jaken only took one and…" Inu-Yasha looked over to where Kagura was looking down at the unconscious minion as Sesshoumaru walked calmly past. "He's still unconscious." 

Kagura looked up in surprise as Sesshoumaru walked past Jaken without stopping. "Hey. Aren't you going to take him with you?" She paused as she quickly assessed whether or not her father could overhear her. She really didn't want him to know how friendly she was with Sesshoumaru. "He's hurt pretty badly."

Sesshoumaru paused and glanced at her, then down at Jaken. An unfathomable look flashed through his golden eyes. Silently, he reached down and picked Jaken up by his belt. Without a word to Kagura, the youkai lord carried his minion off the field. Kagura smirked and followed him.

As they neared the entrance to the competitors' resting area, a little girl in a pretty orange checkered kimono ran out to meet them. "Sesshoumaru-sama! You were so strong! But poor Jaken-sama…" She peered anxiously at the minion as he dangled from Sesshoumaru's hand. "He's all hurt. Rin make better!" She grinned up at Sesshoumaru before turning to lead the way inside. 

To be continued…


	3. The Second Round

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Inu-Yasha - A Feudal Fairytale and all related characters are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi.

****

The Youkai Strength Competition  
Chapter 3: The Second Round  
By Shadow's Mirror

The room set aside for the competitors of the Youkai Strength Competition, where they could rest and have their wounds tended to, was completely white. White walls, white tiles on the floor, white bench seats set out in two rows that ran the length of the room, even the lockers around the room's perimeter were painted white! Kanna looked right at home there. All in all, it was the sort of sterile room that you were afraid to drip blood on the floor of. 

On one side of the room, Miroku, Sango and Kirara were fussing over a slightly bruised Shippo while Kagome tended to Kouga's wounds under the watchful, and extremely annoyed, eye of Inu-Yasha. 

"Feh. I still don't see why you have to look after him, Kagome! It's his own fault he got hurt. Stupid wolf. He's got a sword. Why didn't he use it to deflect those light things?" Inu-Yasha glared at Kouga from the bench opposite the one where Kouga and Kagome were sitting, far too close together for Inu-Yasha's liking. Kouga glared back, then winced in pain as the bandage being applied around his torso suddenly became uncomfortably tight.

Kagome glared at Inu-Yasha as she wound the bandage around Kouga. "Inu-Yasha! Just because Tetsusaiga could deflect them, that doesn't mean that another sword would be able to!" Furious with Inu-Yasha, Kagome kept winding the bandage around Kouga with short, sharp tugs. Every tug made him wince, but Kagome was too angry to notice. 

Shippo spoke up from Sango's lap; his voice slightly distorted by the piece of candy that Kagome had given him to make him feel better. "Besides, if he'd defended himself, Kouga wouldn't have Kagome fussing over him now." The kitsune smirked as Kouga jerked in shock, a slight tinge of colour appearing in the wolf-youkai's cheeks. He turned his glare onto the small boy, but the effect was spoiled by his wince as Kagome tightened the bandages again. 

"Shippo! Now that's not a nice thing to say!" Kagome frowned at him. 

"Perhaps not. But it is most likely true, all the same." 

Miroku sat calmly on the edge of the bench beside Inu-Yasha. He had started off sitting beside Sango, who was currently sitting opposite him and beside Kagome, but that hadn't worked out too well, as the red handprint on his cheek confirmed. He ignored Kouga and Kagome's glares at his comment and glanced at Sango, who was obviously trying not to laugh. At his sly wink, the youkai exterminator had to quickly turn away so Kagome didn't see her grin. 

Ginta and Hakkaku, Kouga's loyal companions who were sitting on the other side of Inu-Yasha, watched all this with wide, nervous eyes. They weren't quite sure what to think about it all. They weren't really used to humans, being from a wolf-youkai tribe, so they were still trying to get used to seeing humans, youkai and half-youkai relaxed enough in each other's company to trade insults and jokes without someone getting pounded… most of the time, anyway. Most of their attention though was on their leader, and the angry human girl who was bandaging him. They really wanted to point out that the bandages were too tight but… one look at Kagome's eyes and they didn't dare do it.

Sesshoumaru was also somewhat uncertain what to make of the obvious camaraderie between the group. He sat, silent and still, a short distance from them and pretended to study the empty bench opposite him as he unashamedly eavesdropped on their conversation. Every now and then, he'd spare a glance for the small girl sitting beside him, and the smaller youkai on her other side. 

Jaken had returned to consciousness shortly after their arrival in the room, courtesy of Rin's way of 'helping' an unconscious or injured youkai. Oddly though, he hadn't seemed to mind having a container of water thrown over him. He had refused Rin's offer to 'help' with his shoulder though; saying that he was perfectly capable of looking after it himself. 

So, while Rin handed him the things he needed and kept up her usual constant stream of chatter, Jaken tended to the gash in his shoulder. Although he kept his attention focused on his work, every now and then he'd forget that he was supposed to be ignoring the child and would utter an exclamation or grunt of acknowledge at something she said. Rin didn't seem to mind his brand of listening/ignoring and kept chattering away happily, her high piping voice carrying easily over all the over voices in the room.

Although Sesshoumaru didn't particularly care for his brother, the layout of the room had forced him to sit fairly close to his group. As much as he disliked Inu-Yasha, his hatred of Naraku was far stronger and the evil youkai was sitting on the other end of the bench that Sesshoumaru was sitting on. Fortunately, it was a large room and the bench ran almost the entire length of it, so there was plenty of space between him and Naraku. All the same, Sesshoumaru had positioned himself between Naraku's group and Rin. 

Even though he had been assured that there were spell wards in place to magically enforce the temporary truce that made it possible for them all to be in the one place without trying to kill each other, he was not prepared to risk Naraku getting his evil hands on Rin. Not again. Constantly having to rescue the child from Naraku's grasp was somewhat irritating. Sesshoumaru disliked irritation. 

On the far side of the room, Naraku lounged as casually as he could on the extremely uncomfortable bench and smirked to himself at the discomfort he could sense coming from the others. The strength of his enemies' hatred for him never ceased to amuse him. He was somewhat surprised that they seemed so relaxed now though, when he was so near. He supposed that it was due to that infernal truce, and their mistaken belief that he was there solely to participate in this foolish contest. 

Naraku idly wondered when he should reveal his true purpose in being there. Perhaps he'd wait until the final round of the competition… Or, better still, he could wait until after he won the final round. But then again, there was the prize to consider… Yes, he decided, he would allow them to give him his prize and then he would destroy them all. 

As Naraku drifted off into a very pleasant, for him anyway, daydream, Kanna sat quietly beside him, staring off into space. Nothing new there. The only movement she made was her hand's light stroking of the frame of the round mirror lying on her lap. Her face was perfectly composed, as always, and her large eyes were blank and expressionless, also as always. She seemed to be completely unaware of anything going on around her. 

Kagura shifted slightly on the hard bench and continued examining her fan, which she had been doing ever since they had entered the room. The only thing she found more interesting in the room was Sesshoumaru, and that interest was the last thing that she wanted to reveal to her 'father'. She barely stopped herself from shivering at the thought of what he might do if he ever found out. 

Determined not to dwell on that subject, Kagura turned her mind to another problem. Kohaku. Not for the first time, she found herself wondering what Naraku was planning that he had felt the need to bring the boy here. The invitation to the event had said that they were allowed to bring any humans along that they wished. Kagura hadn't been surprised when Naraku had insisted on Kohaku coming with them. Naraku would never pass up such a perfect opportunity to show off his control over the boy. But if he wanted to use Kohaku to cause pain and heartache for Inu-Yasha and his group, and of course he did, then why had he told Kohaku to remain in the stands? Why wasn't the boy here? Naraku must have known that Inu-Yasha's friend Sango, Kohaku's sister, would be here. If Kohaku were here too… oh, the pain it would cause the girl! Naraku loved that sort of thing, so why hadn't he done it? It didn't make sense. Unless… 

Kagura's eyes narrowed slightly as she realised. Of course! Why hadn't she seen it before! Naraku probably had some evil scheme in mind to turn this whole competition to his advantage and cause Inu-Yasha and his friends even more pain. Maybe even destroy them completely. 

Before Kagura could follow that line of thought any further, the door opened and the announcer and the Judge entered the room, catching everyone's attention.

The announcer looked around, his gaze settling briefly on Shippo, then on Jaken. "Oh good, you're both awake. We're here to give you all the official results of round one. I'm pleased to say that all of you have made it through to the second round!" The announcement was met with stunned silence. After a long moment, Shippo hesitantly spoke up.

"B… but I… fainted…" He looked down, blushing slightly. 

"So did I… although not in my turn." Jaken glared at Kagura, who ignored him. 

The announcer was about to reply when the Judge put a hand on his arm. Nodding, the announcer kept his silence and allowed the Judge to explain it personally. 

"I was appointed Judge and Tester for this competition because of an ability that I possess. I can tell the results of my attacks at the moment they hit. Shippo, it was not my attack that caused you to faint. Your magical defense allowed you to withstand the Claws of Light easily. That is why you have barely a scratch now. However, it seems that the meeting of our two illusions, for my Claws of Light are as much illusion as your transformation into a stone idol, had an unusual side effect. Did you happen to notice a peculiar smell just before you fainted?" Shippo blinked and thought for a moment before his nose wrinkled and he nodded. "That was the side-effect," the Judge confirmed.

Inu-Yasha blinked. "The smoke!" he realised. The Judge nodded. 

"Yes. I was suspicious about it, since neither my attack nor Shippo's defense should have caused it. According to the competition rules, the only thing that determines whether a competitor proceeds to the next round is how well they withstand the attack that is made against them. Shippo withstood my attack. It was the side effect that was the problem. He didn't faint from injury; he fainted from the smell of the smoke. It shall not be taken into account." The Judge nodded to Jaken. "That also applies to you, Jaken. You withstood the attack I made against you. That is all that matters. Both of you may proceed to the next round." Both Shippo and Jaken breathed sighs of relief.

The announcer smiled slightly and addressed the whole group. "Now for the next order of business. The instructions for the second round." Everyone snapped to attention. "Again, this round is testing your defensive abilities. This time however, you are not permitted to use any items, or magic, to aid you. Instead, you must rely on your physical abilities to evade the attack, and you must evade it. The attack will last for twenty seconds, and if it hits you, you will be eliminated. You don't need to stay on your marker for this one, but you are not permitted to move any further than the marker to either side of your own. Naraku and Sesshoumaru, since you are on either end, you'll see that a line has been drawn to indicate how far you can go on the side with no other markers. As with the last round, retaliation will be cause for immediate disqualification." He gave Inu-Yasha and Kouga hard looks as he spoke. They both tried, and failed miserably, to look innocent.

"One last thing. To keep the death toll to a minimum, if you don't think you can handle any round, based on the instructions for it, you are permitted to withdraw from the competition from this round onwards. Is there anyone here who wishes to withdraw now?" 

"Not me! This sounds like fun!" Inu-Yasha grinned, but his smile didn't quite meet his eyes as he darted a glance over to Shippo. The little kitsune had crossed his arms and legs and had a very serious expression on his face as he considered the offer seriously. 

"If Dogface is in, then I'm in!" Kouga confirmed confidently, earning a glare from In-Yasha.

"I will continue, of course." Naraku looked bored, but there was something remarkably like concern in his eyes as he glanced at the small youkai girl beside him. 

"I'm in," Kagura confirmed quietly. She glanced at her sister too, a slightly worried expression on her face. 

Kanna turned her head slightly towards the Judge and announcer. When she spoke, her voice was so soft it could barely be heard. "I cannot use my mirror?" 

The announcer shook his head. "No, it's counted as an item."

Kanna looked up at Naraku. "Father…" Her tone was as emotionless as ever. 

Naraku frowned at her, obviously displeased. "You will participate, Kanna." 

Kanna turned back to the Judge and announcer. "I will participate." 

Opposite her, Kagura clenched her hands into fists. For just a moment, as she darted a glance at Naraku, her ruby eyes blazed with hatred. Naraku was too busy frowning at Kanna to notice, but someone else saw the look, and wondered at it.

Sesshoumaru turned his attention from Kagura and nodded to the Judge and announcer. He had no doubts about his capabilities. But Jaken was another matter entirely. "I will proceed. Jaken will not." 

Inu-Yasha glared at his brother. "Hey! That's his decision, not yours!" He had no liking for the small youkai, but he liked his brother's attitude even less. 

Jaken sighed heavily and shook his head, refusing to look at anyone. "No, Sesshoumaru-sama is right. You all saw what happened in the last round. One attack and I was unconscious. I only got through my turn because of…" He put his hand on the staff lying across his knees and sighed again, dejected. 

"Jaken-sama strong." Rin's voice was quieter than usual, but her conviction was unhesitant. She patted the toad-like youkai's arm and looked up at the Judge and announcer. "Jaken-sama showed his strength. Jaken-sama not need to do it again." Jaken smiled slightly and sat up a little straighter. 

Inu-Yasha and Kouga snickered, earning themselves glares from Kagome before she smiled at the little girl. "Well said, Rin!" She looked anxiously over at Shippo. "How about you, Shippo?" Inu-Yasha's smile faded as he too looked at the kitsune.

"Shippo…" 

The little fox-youkai smiled slightly as he shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm not stupid. I don't want to get myself killed. I'm out." He looked calmly up at the Judge and announcer before his smile widened. "I just wanted to last at least one round, and I did! I'm happy with that." His friends smiled at him, understanding.

The announcer and Judge nodded. "In that case, if the six of you who are competing in this round are ready, the crowd is starting to grow restless. Considering how many youkai are out there, that isn't a good thing. I'll go make the opening round announcement."

As he and the Judge headed to the door, the announcer suddenly remembered something. "Oh! By the way, this round the attack will be… the Chain of Light."

Naraku frowned slightly. The Claws of Light… the Chain of Light… he was starting to have his suspicions that this Judge might not be evil…

* * *

The announcer's voice rang out over the wild cheers, shouts, screams and applause of the crowd. "Let the second round of the Feudal Era Youkai Strength Challenge commence!" 

Naraku sneered as the Judge took up position opposite him. He intensely disliked the instructions for this round. He preferred to defend with either his miasma or his barrier rather than his agility. Still, that didn't mean that he'd have any trouble passing the test. 

He was so confident of his abilities that the Judge's attack almost caught him by surprise. 

With a throwing motion, the Judge released what looked like a glowing silver chain about six feet long. The chain whipped through the air in a snakelike motion that was startling in its speed. Naraku leaped to avoid it and the chase was on! 

For twenty seconds, the glowing chain followed Naraku through a series of leaps and somersaults, twists and turns. At every point, it kept pace with him. Three times it almost cornered him and once he barely managed to turn before he left his appointed area and earned himself a disqualification. As the seconds passed, Naraku started looking more and more annoyed. By the time the twenty seconds were up, and the chain faded away to nothing, he was nothing short of furious. 

Naraku was convinced that the Judge had deliberately made that chain so fast because the Judge wanted him out of the contest. Even though the attacks were supposed to be stronger each round, there was such a big difference between the first round's attack and the chain that there was no way it could have been the true attack intended for that round!

As Naraku returned to his marker and the Judge moved to stand in front of Kanna, Naraku had a sudden, very unwelcome, thought. If the chain was the true attack for that round… He tensed, for once not even noticing the roar of the approving crowd gathered in the stands. 

It was all over in the blink of an eye. 

The chain of light whipped towards Kanna with the same speed as when it had been used against Naraku. Kanna didn't move. She seemed frozen to the spot as the chain snaked through the air. Just as the chain hit, a flash of fear crossed her face. For a single instant, her eyes widened and her lips parted in a silent cry. Then the glowing chain wrapped around her and a brilliant light enveloped her. 

The Judge tensed and immediately made a slashing motion with one hand, cancelling the attack. The light faded to reveal the small youkai girl lying unmoving on the ground. The Judge moved swiftly to her side as the other competitors looked on in shock. Except for Naraku and Kagura. Naraku scowled and looked away, as though furious with Kanna for not being able to avoid the attack. Kagura clenched her fists and looked as though she was giving serious consideration to either running to her sister's side, storming off or sending her wind blades in Naraku's direction. 

The Judge raised a hand and two humans in white medic uniforms hurried out with a stretcher. As they carried Kanna off the field, the low thunder of confused mumbling came from the surprised crowd. Most of them were wondering why the girl had entered the round if she hadn't intended to even try to avoid the attack. 

Kouga looked more serious than usual when the Judge came to stand in front of him, but that didn't stop him from saying confidently, "Bring it on! Let's see if that chain of yours is any match for my speed!" The Judged silently released the chain of light and the chase began. 

From the first leap, it was clear to everyone watching that Kouga and the chain were almost equally matched in terms of speed. Still, he managed to keep several steps ahead of the chain as it wound after him. Kouga preferred outright running to leaping about, but that didn't mean that he couldn't jump if he had to, as he proved several times when the chain almost caught him at the edge of his allotted area. That seemed to be his biggest problem, more than avoiding the chain. He ran so fast that he was literally running out of room all the time!

Kouga managed to avoid the chain for fourteen seconds before he found himself cornered. With the chain rapidly coming up behind him, he wasted a second glancing behind him before leaping up. But the moment he jumped, the chain suddenly shot straight up in the air and Kouga was unable to maneuver well enough to avoid it! The chain wrapped around him, enveloping him in light just as it had with Kanna. Again, the Judge quickly cancelled the attack. As soon as the glow faded, Kouga fell from the sky.

As the crowd gasped in shock, a flash of red moved to intercept the unconscious boy in mid-air. Inu-Yasha landed lightly and frowned down at the unconscious boy in his arms for a moment before looking up and shouting, "Hey! Can we get some help over here?" 

As the medics carried Kouga off the field, the air filled with the cries and wails of the thousands of disappointed and worried fangirls (and fanyoukai). More than a few of them immediately left their seats and headed for the infirmary in the hope that they might be able to comfort their idol. 

Inu-Yasha was looking very serious as he headed back to his marker. A moment later, the Judge moved in front of him. Inu-Yasha tensed. 

From the moment the chain of light took flight, the crowd was silent, held spellbound by awe at what they were seeing. Inu-Yasha didn't bother with anything fancy. He simply leaped back and then up. Way up. As the chain pursued him, Inu-Yasha suddenly flipped forward. He dove down, past the chain, too fast for it to catch him. By the time it had reversed direction, he was back on the ground and already moving. He bounded forward a few steps and then jumped up again, flipping in mid air. Again the chain followed but this time he didn't try any tricks, he just landed and started bounding backwards and forwards, moving so fast the audience could barely keep track of him. The chain tried to follow, but it was slow compared to the half-youkai. When the time was up, it faded away without having come close to catching Inu-Yasha even once!

The stadium erupted into thunderous applause, shouts, cries, cheers and screams. Quite a few fangirls (and fanyoukai) fainted from the sheer delight of watching such an incredible show of agility. Even Sesshoumaru looked slightly surprised. 

He had fought his brother several times and he couldn't remember the boy ever having so much speed before. His movements had even seemed more graceful than usual, which was a shock in itself. The youkai lord regarded his younger half-brother thoughtfully. He was starting to wonder if perhaps he'd been overly hasty in disregarding Inu-Yasha just because he was half human. He couldn't win the contest of course; there was no chance that Sesshoumaru would allow a pathetic half-youkai to beat him, after all. But he might at least provide a little amusement along the way.

As the Judge moved to stand in front of Kagura, she tensed. Normally, she used her power over the wind to avoid attacks, so it wasn't often that she needed to rely on her physical agility. But just because she didn't do it often, that didn't mean she couldn't do it. As the crowd soon found out.

Like Inu-Yasha, Kagura started off with a leap backwards to get herself a little more room to maneuver, then she was off, leaping, flipping and spinning with stunning speed and grace as the chain made the best attempt to follow her that it could. Kagura's sharp eyes kept a careful watch on the chain's movements and she made sure that it came nowhere near her. Her movements were like a carefully choreographed dance and by the time the chain faded away, the watching crowd were roaring and cheering just as loudly for her as they had for Inu-Yasha. No… more! Kagura smiled smugly at the glaring half-youkai as she walked calmly back to her marker and posed for her fans. 

She looked over at her father almost defiantly, then looked away again as he gave her a smirk and a nod. Apparently he was pleased with her. A quick glance at Sesshoumaru revealed… nothing, as usual. Kagura caught herself before she released a sigh. What did it matter what that arrogant youkai lord thought of her anyway? Nothing, she told herself firmly. His opinion didn't matter in the least. She refused to acknowledge the part of her mind that said otherwise. 

The moment the Judge stepped in front of Sesshoumaru, every member of the audience moved to the edge of their seat, confident that they were about to see something incredible. They were not disappointed.

From the moment the chain was released, Sesshoumaru was a picture of grace, speed and precision. He preferred the wait-until-it's-near-then-avoid-it approach. He would remain perfectly still until it began to close in on him and then he would jump out of the way, avoiding the chain easily each and every time. As soon as he landed, he would wait for it to come at him again and repeat the procedure. He didn't waste a single movement. By the time his twenty seconds were up, the chain hadn't come near him once and he wasn't even slightly out of breath. In fact, he'd made it look ridiculously easy!

As the stadium shook with the noise of the crowd's excitement and appreciation for the show, the announcer stepped up to the microphone. He held up his hand for silence and frowned in irritation when the gesture was completely ignored. He tried again, with the same result, and his frown darkened into a scowl. When the third try also went unnoticed, a black aura surrounded him.

The audience might not have seen his gesture, but there was no mistaking the beam of darkness that shot into the sky and formed the command, 'Silence!'. 

When the stunned crowd was finally quiet, the announcer smiled and spoke into his microphone. 

"That ends the second round of the Challenge! Once again, there will be a brief break before the start of the third round."

To be continued…


	4. The Third Round

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Inu-Yasha - A Feudal Fairytale and all related characters are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi.

****

The Youkai Strength Competition  
Chapter 4: The Third Round  
By Shadow's Mirror

The mood in the locker room of the Youkai Strength Competition was serious and tense, to say the least. The unexpected failure of Kouga and Kanna in the last round had made all of the other competitors realise how serious the competition was. Even one little mistake could cost them dearly. 

On one side of the room, the members of Inu-Yasha's group were all in shock. Although Kouga wasn't really part of their group, he was their friend and ally… more or less. 

Sango sat with her arm around Kagome, trying to comfort the pale and shaken girl. Kagome was too stunned to speak. She had known that Kouga was nowhere near as strong as Inu-Yasha, of course, but all the same… it had happened so quickly. She was very worried about him. 

Inu-Yasha had told her that Kouga had just been knocked unconscious, but Kagome really wanted to go and make sure that he was all right. Because of all the fans who were trying to get in to 'comfort' their idol though, the infirmary had been placed off-limits to anyone who wasn't immediate family. Fortunately, Kouga's two companions had been able to convince the security people that they were related to Kouga. It hadn't really been a lie, since they were all part of the same wolf-youkai tribe. At least Kouga would have someone with him when he woke up. Although Kagome knew he'd be disappointed that it wasn't her. 

It wasn't only thoughts of Kouga that were worrying Kagome though. One other thought kept running through her mind, filling her with fear and anxiety. 

If Kouga had been taken down so easily, would Inu-Yasha be all right? 

On the other bench, Miroku sat silently with his head bowed and his eyes closed. As usual when he was like that, no one was certain if he was awake and deep in thought, or merely asleep. Inu-Yasha sat beside him, unusually quiet as he stared down at the floor. 

Kouga's defeat had surprised him. He hadn't expected the overconfident wolf-youkai to go down so easily. It made him wonder just how strong that chain thing had been. He had seen Kouga's injuries when he had caught him as he fell, so he knew how badly the boy had been hurt. That made him uneasy. If the chain had been powerful enough to do that, what would the next round's attack be like? In one way, he was eager to find out. In another way though… He was starting to wonder if this contest was really as innocent as it had seemed to be when they had received the invitation back in the Feudal Era. The strength of the chain attack had made him realise just how much trouble they could be in if this was all a trap of some kind. 

Inu-Yasha's hands clenched into fists. Whatever happened, he would protect Kagome. Shippo too, he added mentally as the small kitsune shifted slightly on his lap. 

Glancing down, despite his serious mood Inu-Yasha almost smiled at the sight of the little fox-youkai leaning back against his stomach as he anxiously watched Kagome. Shippo had climbed up onto his lap as soon as he'd sat down and Inu-Yasha had let him stay there, knowing that Shippo needed the comfort. What had happened to Kouga could just as easily have happened to him, if he hadn't pulled out of the contest when he had. 

Sesshoumaru wasn't entirely certain what to make of what had happened during the last round, or what was happening at that moment. His thoughts whirled and tangled but his expression remained as calm and emotionless as ever. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew that not everything in the competition was as it appeared to be. Until he knew more, he had decided that it would be best if he continued on as though he had noticed nothing. But he planned to be even more alert than usual.

The moment he had seen the glowing chain, Sesshoumaru had recognised it. He had known how fast and powerful it was even before Naraku had started moving. What Sesshoumaru didn't know was how he knew the attack. He could remember seeing it before, but the details of that memory were proving irritatingly elusive. Oddly, the only thing that kept coming to mind was the sound of music and the little song that Rin had made up and which she sometimes sang. The fact that he couldn't remember where he had seen the attack before made Sesshoumaru annoyed. The thought that Rin was connected to it in some way though… That made him very uneasy.

Although Sesshoumaru was outwardly calm, his two small companions were not. Jaken was visibly shaken and little Rin was doing her best to comfort him, despite her own anxiety. She had shifted as close to Sesshoumaru as she could, pulling Jaken with her so the three of them were together. As Jaken shivered, Rin leaned against him. She didn't talk. It was the most obvious sign of just how anxious she was. Her quick glances up at the youkai lord sitting at her side revealed where her anxiety lay. Rin was worried about Sesshoumaru.

She wasn't the only one. Kagura sat opposite them and she sent an occasional glance at Sesshoumaru herself. Apart from that, she seemed perfectly calm, if a little paler than usual. Her sister's response, or rather, lack of response, to the attack was obviously weighing heavily on her mind. 

Although none of her inner turmoil showed on her face, Kagura was confused and seething. She didn't understand why Naraku had practically ordered Kanna to stay in the competition. He knew her abilities better than anyone. After all, he had created her! He must have known that she would be unable to defend herself without her mirror. Even Kagura had suspected as much, from her observations of Kanna in the past. Kanna's reaction to the news that she would not be allowed to use her mirror had merely confirmed those suspicions. 

All in all, Kagura had never hated her 'father' more than at that particular moment. She hated him to the point that she refused to even sit opposite him. Actually, she would have liked to put even more distance between them, but they'd have to be in different countries before she was satisfied so she remained where she was. Inu-Yasha hadn't objected to her sitting only a few feet away from him and at least, with Sesshoumaru sitting opposite her, she had a decent view to look at.

Naraku sat at the end of the bench where Sesshoumaru was. He remained silent and still, apparently lost in thought. In reality, he was furious with Kanna for not even attempting to participate in the round. He ignored the little voice in the back of his mind that reminded him that it was his own fault that she had been unable to protect herself. The same little voice also pointed out that he had been the one to insist on her participation that round. 

The evil half-youkai was also furious with his second daughter, Kagura. How dare she sit so close to that wretched half-dog-demon? He didn't like the swift glances he kept catching her giving to Sesshoumaru either. He'd suspected for quite some time that there was something there that he was missing, he was becoming surer of it by the moment. But, aside from ordering Kagura to move opposite him, there was nothing he could do about it. He would have ordered her, except that he was certain that she would not obey him and that would give the others far too much to think about. He didn't want any of them knowing how disobedient Kagura was. They might take it as a sign that she would prefer to be on their side or something.

All in all, this competition was proving to be more irritating than entertaining, as far as Naraku was concerned. Especially since he'd barely been able to keep out of the wretched chain's reach while the others had seemed to have no problem with it…

* * *

In the gloomy atmosphere time seemed to drag by and it seemed like forever before the door opened and the announcer and Judge entered the room. The announcer waited until he had everyone's attention and then spoke up. 

"I'm sure you'll all be pleased to hear that Kouga and Kanna will both be fine. Kouga should wake up soon and his injuries are healing nicely under his own power. Kanna… isn't healing quite as fast but she should be awake by the end of today at the latest." 

The tension in the room immediately lightened considerably. There were several sighs of relief from Inu-Yasha's group and Rin smiled. Kagura displayed no emotion, like Sesshoumaru and Naraku, but inwardly she was pleased at the news about her sister. Kanna got on her nerves sometimes with her quiet ways and constant obedience to Naraku, not to mention that whole Saimyoushou/mirror deal, but she was still her sister.

"Now then, the official results for round two are obvious, but I'll state them anyway. All the participants except for Kouga and Kanna, since they're both currently unconscious, have made it through to the next round!" The announcer consulted his clipboard for a moment. 

"The next order of business is to give you the instructions for round three! Remember, if you don't think you can handle the challenge, you may pull out at any time. All right… this round will be a little different. So far, only your defensive abilities have been put to the test. Now it's time to test your attack power as well."

"Yes! About time!" Inu-Yasha laughed, looking extremely pleased. His friends grinned and shook their heads at him. Jaken blinked, Rin giggled and Sesshoumaru looked at his brother as though he was something that he had just wiped off the bottom of his boot. Kagura raised one eyebrow and smirked. Naraku remained emotionless. The announcer smiled wryly. 

"So glad that you approve. As I was saying… This round is a bit different to what you've been doing so far. You will each face the Judge in an attack/defense test. The test will begin when you attack the Judge. You may each make only one attack, so I suggest that you make it a good one. The Judge will remain completely still, however he will be able to use his own abilities to defend himself against your attack. Depending on what you do and how he responds, his defense may also be his retaliation, or it could be completely different. Either way, you will need to defend yourself against his attack in any way that you can. You may use any natural ability or object that you possess. That includes your physical skills so you can simply jump out of the way, if you so wish." The announcer looked around to make sure that everyone was listening. He had their full attention.

"To get through to the next round, you merely need to survive. Your attack does not need to hit. In fact, it's extremely unlikely that it will. To ensure that the Judge remains uninjured, he will be using a barrier that extends only around himself. Anyone who attempts to break that barrier will be disqualified." The announcer gave Inu-Yasha and Naraku a very long, hard look. Inu-Yasha frowned slightly. Naraku merely looked bored. 

"Uh… this barrier… my sword…" Inu-Yasha hesitated, not really wanting to reveal the full details in front of either Naraku or Sesshoumaru. 

The Judge stepped forward. "It is my understanding that your sword generally breaks barriers such as mine only when you deliberately command it to. As long as you do not do that, it will hold against whatever you send against me." 

"Great!" Inu-Yasha grinned. Now that was settled, he was really looking forward to this round!

"One last thing, is there anyone who wishes to withdraw from this round?" 

"Are you kidding?" Inu-Yasha was practically bouncing in his excitement. "And miss this? No way!" His friends sighed, grinned and shook their heads. This was obviously something that they were very used to enduring from him. 

"I will proceed," Sesshoumaru calmly confirmed as Kagura silently nodded in agreement. 

"As will I." Naraku's voice held a note of impatience. All the rules and red tape were apparently starting to get on his nerves. 

"Good. In that case, the next round will begin in a few minutes."

* * *

Although it didn't seem possible, the wild whistles, cheers, cries, screams, shouts and general craziness of the crowd seemed to almost double in volume the moment the four remaining competitors stepped onto the field. While Naraku and Sesshoumaru strode to their markers without so much at glancing at the crowd, Inu-Yasha and Kagura weren't so ill-mannered. 

After a quick glance to make sure that Naraku wasn't looking, Kagura gave the audience a smile and a wave. She only intended it to be quick, but the roar of the crowd was intoxicating and she started enjoying herself. It wasn't until she heard Naraku snort in disgust and looked around that she realised she had reached her marker and both Naraku and Sesshoumaru were looking at her. Kagura ignored Naraku's glare, but she couldn't help but be embarrassed about being caught out by Sesshoumaru. She was very relieved when he turned away. 

Kagura couldn't resist watching the handsome youkai covertly for a moment more. She was startled at the look that suddenly passed across his face. It looked like he was having trouble deciding whether he should burst out laughing or kill someone. Kagura smirked and looked back towards the locker room, knowing whom she'd see. There was only one person who had that particular effect on Sesshoumaru. When she saw what Inu-Yasha was doing, she barely managed to restrain a laugh too.

Inu-Yasha was standing in the middle of the field showing off, as usual. In this case, he had Tetsusaiga out of its sheath and in full fang mode as he did a few warm-up swings. At least, they could have been warm-up swings, if anyone else had been doing them. Since Inu-Yasha wasn't known for that type of planning, he was definitely just showing off his very big sword. 

Judging by the fact that the front two rows of fangirls had all fainted from delight, he was apparently doing a rather good job of it. A little too good actually. Every single fanyoukai in the arena was now struggling to get as close to the front as possible so they could get a better view. If there was one thing that fanyoukai loved above anything else, it was a cute guy with a massive sword. Of course, the resulting crowd made it very difficult for anyone else to see what was going on and cries of 'down in front!' and 'hey! do you mind? I was watching that!' started to rise over the cheering. 

Sesshoumaru seethed. As usual, Inu-Yasha was not only acting like the immature pup that he was, but he was doing it in such a way that Sesshoumaru would look jealous if he stopped him. Not that he would ever be jealous of his little brother… half-brother, he mentally reminded himself… but the fans would definitely not be happy if he intervened. Not that he cared what any of them thought, of course, but he didn't want to have to fight his way out of a hoard of angry fangirls if he could help it. 

Especially since he would probably have Rin with him at the time. 

Sesshoumaru shuddered at the thought of fangirls seeing him with the child. Ever since arriving at this fangirl haven, he'd had very disturbing dreams about fangirls chasing him yelling out that he was fluffy and made such a cute daddy for such an adorable little girl. So far, he'd managed to keep that nightmare from becoming reality by keeping himself, Rin and Jaken locked in their hotel suite instead of looking around the rest of the competition, but Rin had pleaded to be allowed to watch the event today and he had reluctantly agreed. He had even more reluctantly agreed to take her and Jaken to the carnival being held in conjunction with the competition. They were supposed to be doing the whole 'tourist' thing that afternoon, after he won the competition, and that would be risky enough. Angering fangirls by pulling Inu-Yasha to his marker by his ears would not be in his best interests. No matter how tempting the idea was. 

"Inu-Yasha… if you don't get to your marker in one minute, you will be disqualified for…" The announcer paused for a moment to consider and then grinned evilly, "inciting a riot!" He pointed to the stands where several battles had already broken out between fanyoukai trying to get closer to the sword-wielding cutie and youkai who thought the fanyoukai were ordinary fangirls and had decided to try to eat them in revenge for blocking their view. The fanyoukai appeared to be winning…

Inu-Yasha blinked up at the crowd and then grinned sheepishly at the announcer as he immediately bounded over to his marker; his sword slung casually over one shoulder. "Um… sorry about that." 

"Well I should think so…" The announcer frowned at the still-battling crowd. "The third round of the… oh honestly!" 

Very irritated at the fact that no one was paying him the slightest amount of attention as all eyes were on the battles in the stands, the announcer raised his hand towards the sky. A blaze of dark blue fire flickered around him for a moment before racing up his arm to form a ball of flickering dark blue energy that hovered above his fingertips. Suddenly, the ball blasted up into the air, where it exploded with a bang loud enough to make everyone in the stadium, especially those with extremely sensitive hearing, cover their ears and cringe. But that wasn't all. The clear blue sky suddenly became covered by menacing black clouds that shut out almost all the light, casting the stadium into a gloom almost as dark as night. The crowd went absolutely silent as everyone crept back to their seats, most of them giving the now smiling announcer nervous glances in the process. 

"That's better." The announcer lazily waved one hand and the clouds faded away, returning the sky to normal and bathing the stadium in light again. A massive sigh of relief rose from the crowd. "Now then, as I was saying… The third round of the Youkai Strength Competition is about to commence!" He paused and blinked when not a sound came from the audience. The announcer sighed. "I've said all that I needed to say. You can go ahead and cheer and whatever now." 

As the stadium erupted with applause, screams, cheers and everything else in-between, the announcer sighed and went back to what he did while he wasn't making announcements. Namely, making his plans for revenge on the dragon who had volunteered him for this particular job. 

* * *

On the field, the Judge had paused, apparently trying to recover what hearing had been lost in the explosion, which had been much louder on the field than in the stands, owing to the way the magical barriers were set up. They were intended to keep stray blasts from the competitors from hitting the crowd. Because the explosion had been directly above the field though, they had also kept most of the sound in! 

The Judge wasn't the only one who had been affected. Inu-Yasha was now lying flat out on the ground with his hands over his ears. Sesshoumaru had bowed his head so his hair covered his eyes, hiding his expression. Kagura was wincing as she gingerly rubbed her tapered ears and trembling slightly in pain. Naraku was the only one who didn't seem to be affected, but he was shooting a very nasty glare at the announcer so it must have been annoying to him, at the very least. 

The Judge looked around at the four competitors and seemed to think for a moment before approaching Naraku, who was on the first marker again. "Would you like a moment more to recover from that auditory assault, or are you right to proceed with the test?" 

Naraku scowled. "Of course I am ready! That was nothing for me!" 

The Judge shrugged. "Very well then. As soon as I raise my hand, you may attack. Don't forget, you only get one shot, and then it's my turn."

Naraku sneered. "One shot is all I need." His eyes glittered with the anticipation of defeating his opponent. 

The Judge sighed softly while moving into position. There was one in every contest… 

As soon as the signal was given, Naraku's hands shot up and a massive blast of poisonous miasma burst out of him. It arced through the air and hit the Judge, engulfing him in toxic goo. Naraku sneered. No barrier could possibly withstand his attack! "Fufufu. I hope they have a spare judge." 

He was still gloating when the miasma began to glow. Naraku gasped in horrified shock as his beautiful miasma was suddenly purified. It shone with an ethereal silvery-white light, sparkling like a massive crystal (bearing a striking resemblance to the Shikon no Tama) for a moment before the light suddenly shot out, aiming directly for Naraku. The startled half-youkai almost didn't get his barrier in place quickly enough to block it. 

The light was so bright that everyone in the stadium had to look away as it covered Naraku's barrier. After a few moments, it faded. The crowd held their breath as they looked to see if Naraku had survived the attack. When they saw him standing on the field, apparently unharmed, the stands erupted with applause, screams and cheers! 

Naraku forced himself to remain upright, although he barely kept himself from swaying. He was exhausted, and horrified at the strength of the Judge's attack. He glared at the Judge as the small figure calmly moved on to the next competitor. Naraku was shocked that he'd almost been defeated. His barrier had almost been overwhelmed! It had taken every ounce of his will to sustain it. If the Judge's attack had lasted a few moments longer… He gritted his teeth and comforted himself with the thought that the Judge must surely be just as exhausted as he was. That calm attitude and light step was just a front… Naraku was sure of it… well… almost sure… maybe… He glared at the Judge.

Inu-Yasha was back on his feet, but he was still rubbing his ears with a look of pain on his face. The Judge hesitated. "Are you all right to proceed or do you need a few moments? I could call for a rest period if you wish. That really was unacceptable behaviour. He should have taken the barrier spells into consideration. Needless to say I'll be taking him to task over the matter during the next break." 

Inu-Yasha managed a smirk, although it wasn't as bright as it normally was. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind a shot at him too." He gave himself a shake and tilted his head as he considered. "I think I'm right. There's still a bit of an echo. But it won't stop me from using my sword. Let's do this!" This time his grin was genuine. The judge nodded and moved into position, then gave the signal.

"Kaze no Kizu!" With a determined look on his face, Inu-Yasha brought his shining sword smashing down on the ground in front of him. He put as much strength as he could into the blow and was pleased with the results. Three streaks of flaming red and gold energy burst out of the sword and across the field to the waiting Judge, leaving blazing trails of fire behind them. They all struck the Judge at the same time. There was a brilliant burst of light where they struck and then a massive explosion rocked the stadium!

Inu-Yasha covered his sensitive nose with the sleeve of his coat and coughed as he tried to peer through the smoke. "Uh… Judge? You okay?" 

"I'm… fine…" The soft voice sounded more than a little strained and the words were immediately followed by a coughing fit. 

A helpful breeze began to blow the smoke away. Inu-Yasha glanced at Kagura in surprise and she shrugged as she used her fan to manipulate the wind. "What? It's my turn next and I hate waiting, that's all." 

"Feh. Whatever." Inu-Yasha shrugged back at her and went to check on the Judge, who was now lying on the ground about ten feet away from the position marker. "Sorry about that." He held out his hand and the Judge gratefully accepted the help.

"Not your fault. It was the same thing that happened with your little fox friend during the first round. My power sometimes reacts with other powers, but I can't tell what it will and won't react with until it actually happens. Apparently your sword's attack and that particular form of my barrier cause the reaction. That's handy to know." The Judge sounded more amused than anything else. "Now then… I still have to attack you…" 

Inu-Yasha nodded and returned to his marker, relieved that he hadn't hurt the Judge. He was starting to like… Him? Her? He still wasn't sure. Either way, he was pleased that the Judge hadn't been hurt. Besides, killing the Judge would probably have earned him a disqualification…

After a moment's rest, the Judge raised both hands, crossed at the wrists with the palms facing outwards. The air in front of them began to glow and an orb of light appeared. As it began to shine more and more brightly, the atmosphere in the stadium grew tenser as everyone waiting with great anticipation to see what would happen. The Judge suddenly pushed the orb of light towards Inu-Yasha, and it shot forward almost faster than the eye could follow!

Inu Yasha gripped his sword tightly, but stood in his usual confident stance. He raised the sword and swung it as hard as he could just as the orb reached him. There was a brilliant flash of light as Inu-Yasha unleashed his sword's power and the energy of the youkai-fang sword swallowed up the orb with apparent ease. The only sign of the intense amount of energy that it had taken to get that result was Inu-Yasha's panting breaths afterwards. He dug the point of his sword into the ground and leaned on it slightly as he rested. "Good attack!" 

The Judge chuckled and moved on to Kagura, coming to a halt just in front of her. "Are you recovered from the earlier explosion?" The Judge spoke very quietly.

Kagura nodded. "Yeah. My hearing's not as sensitive as a dog-youkai's." Her voice was just as quiet as the Judge's, and her eyes flickered to her left, where Sesshoumaru was still standing with his head bowed and his eyes hidden. He remained still and her eyes returned to the Judge, a slightly worried look flashing through them. The Judge nodded at her silent message.

"I'll send a medic along to the rest room after this round to check on him and Inu-Yasha. Naraku?"

"His hearing isn't anything special. It's worse than mine and I'm fine now." Kagura raised her voice a little. "I'm ready." The Judge nodded and moved to the appropriate marker to give the signal.

Kagura stood in her usual deceptively-relaxed pose. She held out one hand and expertly flipped her fan open, then moved it in graceful and precise motions to create and focus her attack. The powerful wind blades sliced through the air, moving swiftly towards their target. The Judge waited until the last possible moment before raising his hand. 

A strange shimmer of vibrant green light filled the air between the small cloaked figure and the attacking blades, as if a curtain had been drawn. The wind blades hit the shimmering veil and it looked like they'd pass through it, but the veil began to twist around them, trapping them within its folds! Kagura blinked, stunned by the effectiveness of such a simple defense against her wind blades. "Oh… that Judge is good…" she muttered to herself. She tensed, preparing herself for the retaliation, but it still caught her by surprise.

The shimmering veil began to sparkle, as though green fire was crackling all over it. It began to untwist and as it did so, although the top remained still, the bottom began to billow out, exactly like a curtain caught in a strong breeze. There was no sign of Kagura's wind blades. The veil's movements became stronger until it was whipping around. Suddenly, the whole veil whipped up at once and the wind blades burst out of it and sped back towards Kagura! 

With a gasp, Kagura started to raise her fan, but she hesitated in shock when she realised that the blades flying towards her were more than just her wind attack being reflected back at her. These blades were larger, faster and Kagura could sense the power coming from them in awesome quantities. They also shimmered with a faint light and Kagura realised that they were completely out of her control now that they were more than just wind! 

Unable to use her fan as she'd intended, Kagura tried to jump out of the way instead, but she had hesitated a heartbeat too long. She managed to avoid two of the blades, but the third one caught her! It slashed across her hip and she cried out. Her attention distracted by the sudden pain, she was unable to miss being hit by the remaining two blades! One slashed her across the shoulder, but the fifth one caught her directly front on. As the crowds in the stands gasped in shock and horror, Kagura hit the ground hard! She didn't move.

Naraku scowled and turned away, clearly angry with Kagura for her failure. Inu-Yasha glared at his back before he bounded over to the fallen woman, scrunching up his nose against the smell of blood. The moment he saw the wound, he went still. His startled amber eyes looked up as the Judge knelt down beside him. "She's badly hurt." The Judge nodded and called for the medics. Kagura didn't stir as they carried her off the field. 

In the stands, hoards of fanboys started making their way to the infirmary to try to comfort their fallen wind-princess. The fangirls and fanyoukai warned them not to bother since security around the infirmary was too tight, but they wouldn't listen. The fangirls, fanyoukai and general humans and youkai sighed at their stupidity and claimed the fanboys' forgotten buckets of popcorn. All eyes turned to the Judge as he crossed the field to Sesshoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru… Can you hear me at all?" The Judge's voice was soft, but there was a note of concern in it. 

"Of course." Sesshoumaru's voice was ever so slightly tense and he didn't raise his head. "I am ready to proceed."

"No. You're not. Look at me." Startled, the youkai lord almost did so, before his head lowered even more. "I will stop this round here and now if you don't. I can disqualify you, if I feel the need to."

Sesshoumaru growled very softly. The fact that he growled at all confirmed that he did not like being bossed around at all. As if there'd ever been any doubt of that in anyone's mind… He reluctantly looked up, glaring at the Judge out of red-rimmed, pain-filled eyes. The Judge looked more closely, noticing how Sesshoumaru's facial stripes had become slightly more obvious. "Oh dear… you are in a bad way. Dratted announcer and his dratted Exploding Orb of Darkness. How bad is it?" 

The youkai lord looked away, unhappy about having to admit to such a foolish weakness. "I can hear well enough to proceed with the contest."

The Judge thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, the contest doesn't really require sensitive hearing, so it shouldn't put you at a disadvantage or anything. Watch for my signal, then attack and prepare to defend against my retaliation. All right?" Sesshoumaru silently nodded.

The crowd grew silent in anticipation of Sesshoumaru's turn, which really annoyed Inu-Yasha. They hadn't been quiet for him. What was so special about his older brother? Half-brother, he mentally corrected himself. He crossed his arms and glared at Sesshoumaru for a moment before he noticed something odd about his brother's eyes and facial stripes. Then it hit him. 

Considering how painful the explosion had been for him, it must have been even more so for his brother! After all, his brother's hearing had always been far more sensitive than his, since Sesshoumaru was a full-youkai. 

Inu-Yasha struggled for a moment against feeling anything resembling compassion for his brother, then sighed and gave in to the human side of his heart. On the bright side, if he did show his brother any concern at all, Sesshoumaru was sure to be extremely annoyed about it. Inu-Yasha smirked.

At the Judge's signal, Sesshoumaru drew Toukijin in a smooth motion that brought sighs and squeals from the fangirls (and fanyoukai) in the stands. Holding the sword straight out, Sesshoumaru summoned its incredible power. The blast of energy struck the Judge with enough force that, even with the barrier firmly in place, the Judge was pushed back several feet.

The blast crackled around the barrier, which began to glow brightly. Sesshoumaru kept up his attack, refusing to admit defeat, and the barrier glowed more intensely. Suddenly, there was a flash as the light enveloped the power from Sesshoumaru's sword, swallowing it in a single instant! Sesshoumaru blinked as his sword began to shake in his hand. He stopped the attack, but the power he had already sent out was also sucked in to what was now a small glowing orb hovering just in front of the Judge.

Suddenly the orb shot forward, moving faster than the eye could follow. Sesshoumaru met it head on, his sword crackling with energy as he slashed at the orb. The stands erupted with cheers as he cut it neatly in two, but then the cheers turned to horrified shouts as the power the orb had taken in was suddenly released, directly at Sesshoumaru!

The youkai lord jumped back; barely managing to avoid the power as it sped towards him. It came at him again, and again he dodged it, although his movements weren't quite as graceful or efficient as they had been during the previous round. By the third charge, the power was beginning to fade away and he was able to avoid it easily. When it faded completely, the crowd's wild cheers and shouts made the entire stadium tremble. The noise also covered Sesshoumaru's not-quite inaudible sigh of relief. That attack had been stronger than he had anticipated. 

The announcer stepped up to the microphone and immediately the cheering crowds fell completely silent. The announcer blinked and looked rather disconcerted for a moment before speaking. 

"That ends the third round of the Challenge! Once again, there will be a brief break and then round four will begin!"

To be continued…


	5. The Fourth Round

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Inu-Yasha - A Feudal Fairytale and all related characters are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 1: Text in **BOLD CAPITALS** is being shouted.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: A very big thank you to everyone who's taken the time to review this! I really love knowing what people think about my stories. A special thank you to Orlando-Bloom-fangirl for the idea about Shippo's little adventure -_^ and to Vorsith... your comment about injustice has to be the nicest compliment that I have ever received! Thank you so much! One wish... granted! Hope you like it! ^_^

****

The Youkai Strength Competition  
Chapter 5: The Fourth Round  
By Shadow's Mirror

The first thing Inu-Yasha noticed on entering the locker room after the third round of the competition was Shippo lying on one of the long benches that ran the length of the room. The small kitsune was lying on his stomach with his legs and arms splayed out as he did when he was really exhausted. His hair and tail were all tousled and he was sound asleep. 

Miroku was sitting beside him in the same position he'd been in when Inu-Yasha had left the room about half an hour earlier. It was still impossible to tell whether he was awake and meditating or asleep and dreaming. The half-youkai shook his head and looked over at the two girls sitting on the opposite bench. At least they were awake.

Sango and Kagome had their heads close together as they held a conversation that seemed to consist mostly of whispers and giggles. They didn't look up even when Inu-Yasha dropped heavily on the bench beside Shippo. He rolled his eyes. "Does anyone care that the round's over?" 

Kagome looked over at him and smiled brightly. "Of course we care, Inu-Yasha! But you're here so you obviously made it through just fine." 

Inu-Yasha smiled smugly. "Yeah. Of course I did." His smile faded. "Kagura didn't though."

The girls gasped. "She's out of the competition?" Sango asked. 

"Yeah. She got hit by these blade thingies. Like the ones she uses, only stronger. A lot stronger." 

"Will the pretty lady be okay?" Inu-Yasha blinked and looked down in surprise at the small girl standing in front of him and looking up at him with huge worried eyes. He didn't know which was more surprising… that the child, Sesshoumaru's child, was actually talking to him or the fact that she thought Kagura was 'pretty'. She seemed to be concerned too, like she knew Kagura well. But since the girl was usually with Sesshoumaru… Just how well did Kagura and Sesshoumaru know each other? Inu-Yasha stopped his line of thought there, not sure that he really wanted to know the answer. Besides, Sesshoumaru's child was waiting for him to reply. 

"Um… sure. She'll be fine. She wasn't hurt too bad." 

"Rin." 

The child turned at the voice, smiling at the tall youkai who had just entered the room and was now eyeing his younger half-brother in disapproval. "Sesshoumaru-sama!" She ran over to him, stopping just short of hugging him. "The pretty lady got hurt! He says she'll be okay. Do you think the pretty lady will be okay?" She looked up at Sesshoumaru. He stared down at her for a long, silent moment before Jaken intervened. 

"Rin! Stop bothering Sesshoumaru-sama and come and sit down quietly so Sesshoumaru-sama can rest before the next round. Not that he needs to, of course. Sesshoumaru-sama could win the entire contest without resting even once," the toad-like youkai added nervously as Sesshoumaru glanced at him. Jaken looked suddenly terrified but Rin just smiled and skipped back to him. She pulled herself up onto the seat beside Jaken and sat there, swinging her legs. 

After a moment, Sesshoumaru sat down on her other side. He still did not answer her question. There was nothing he could say that his irritating brother had not already said. 

Inu-Yasha snickered at the scene, enjoying seeing his brother being besieged by his minions… or whatever the little girl was to him. His laughter earned him another glare from his brother, but Inu-Yasha was too distracted to notice since it also earned him a glare from Kagome. "What?" 

"Not so loud, Inu-Yasha! You'll wake Shippo!" 

"Feh. Why's he so tired? I'm the one who's been out there fighting." Inu-Yasha glanced at the sleeping kitsune with a frown. 

"While you were outside, Shippo had a little… adventure," Sango explained. She and Kagome glanced at each other and started giggling again. Inu-Yasha stared at them in surprise, then sighed. 

"Would one of you please start talking sense?" 

"Shippo decided to go and watch the contest. But he was only gone a few minutes before he came back. Apparently, he was… intercepted… before he reached the stands." Miroku's voice startled Inu-Yasha almost as much as what he said. It seemed that the monk was awake after all.

"Intercepted?" Inu-Yasha frowned, suddenly alert. "Someone attacked him? Who?" 

Kagome laughed softly. "Relax Inu-Yasha! It wasn't that kind of interception." Her brown eyes twinkled. "It turns out that Shippo has quite a few fans. Some of them finally caught up with him. He's exhausted from all the attention!" 

"Feh." Inu-Yasha frowned and crossed his arms, suddenly very irritated. No one had tried to 'intercept' him…

Before he could say anything else, the door opened and Naraku came in… or rather, limped in. The evil half-youkai stared balefully around at the startled group, silently daring them to comment, before he started to sit down. Wincing in mid-motion, he paused and went to lean against the lockers instead. 

Inu-Yasha blinked. "Not that I care, but what happened to you?" He grinned. "That attack do some damage after all, eh?" 

Naraku glared at the insolent whelp. He was tempted to refuse to answer, but he couldn't very well have everyone thinking that he had been injured in the last round. "For your information, this is not due to the competition. I was intercepted on my way back." 

"What!" Inu-Yasha jumped to his feet, bristling with indignation. "Oh, that's too much! First Shippo and now… Naraku!" Inu-Yasha shuddered at the thought of fangirls intercepting Naraku and not him. What did Naraku have that he didn't? He was cuter and he had that whole furry ear thing going… all Naraku had was that Baboon pelt… 

Naraku blinked, extremely confused. "Shippo? The fox child? Why would anyone kick him?" He eyed the kitsune in surprise. 

"Huh? Kick?" Inu-Yasha blinked. "No one kicked Shippo. What are you talking about?" 

"You said he'd been attacked, like I was." Naraku was going from confused to irritated.

"You and Shippo were both 'intercepted', but in different ways. You appear to have been attacked, most likely because you are evil. As for Shippo, he was… I believe the term is 'glomped with great enthusiasm'." Miroku smiled as though having a very pleasant daydream. Sango gave him a suspicious look. 

Naraku glared at the monk for his insulting, and incorrect, explanation, then at Inu-Yasha for confusing him in the first place and making the explanation necessary. He turned away, and winced as his movement brought him severe pain in the delicate part of his anatomy that his attacker had managed to hit. He didn't know which outraged him more, that a fan of Kanna's had dared assault him for making the weak girl fight earlier in the competition, that the fan had actually been able to surprise him enough to strike him before he got his barrier up, or that Kanna actually had fans! 

"They're my creations, so Kanna and Kagura shouldn't have fans of their own, their fans should be mine!" he muttered to himself, forgetting that dog demons, and half-dog demons, have exceptional hearing. Fortunately for Naraku, the explosion earlier was still affecting Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru enough that neither of them heard him. Everyone gave him wary looks for talking to himself though. 

Inu-Yasha blinked as Miroku suddenly stood up. "Hey, where are you going?" 

Miroku started for the door, wearing his usual calm 'I'm a monk, trust me' look. The one he wore whenever he was up to no good. "Oh, I just thought I'd step outside for a little… Ah…" He paused as he suddenly found Sango standing in front of him. The exterminator gave Miroku her best 'don't even think about it, you perverted monk' look. "Um… Sango… I was just…"

Sango glared at him. "I know what you were doing. You were going to walk around outside in the hope of getting 'glomped'." Her look dared him to deny it. 

Kagome and Inu-Yasha shook their heads, wearing identical expressions of resigned exasperation. They were very used to this sort of scene. It was the first time that the others had seen it though. Rin and Jaken watched with wide, confused eyes and even Sesshoumaru and Naraku seemed surprised by how quickly the monk returned to his seat. 

Sango dropped onto the bench opposite Miroku again, still glaring at him. He smiled at her and tried a little wave, but she just glared at him even more. He quickly resumed his asleep/awake position. 

* * *

Only a few minutes passed before the locker room door opened again and the announcer and Judge entered the room. But they weren't alone. A tall young man in his early twenties was with them. 

His hair was so light blonde that it was nearly white and he wore it caught up in a ponytail that fell down his back to just above his waist. His face was framed by two locks of hair that fell down to his shoulders, one on either side of his face, and his fringe was thick and wild and kept covering his eyes whenever he moved, although it didn't seem to annoy him since he never brushed it out of the way. He was dressed in a white tunic-top belted over simple white pants with a tan sash that was tied in a neat bow at the front. His boots were also tan, as was the ribbon holding his hair, which was also tied in a neat bow. Oddly though, despite the feminine bows, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was male. Perhaps it was the way he walked, as though he was stalking prey. Or it could have been the alertness in his narrow violet eyes as he scanned the room as soon as he entered.

The announcer looked around the room and fidgeted slightly. "I… wish to apologise to those of you who were on the field at the time I attempted to quiet the crowd. I didn't realise the field's barrier would not only keep the noise of the explosion in, but would in fact amplify it. I assure you that it will not happen again."

"I should think not." The Judge said, a low note of warning in the soft voice that made the announcer wince and eye the smaller figure warily as he forced himself to remain still and not take a step away.

"Anyway, this is… one of the competition's medics, who will be making sure that each of the remaining competitors is perfectly fine for the next round."

"Feh. Don't need him. My hearing's almost back to normal." Inu-Yasha flinched as he suddenly found the medic standing right in front of him. The half-youkai blinked in surprise. He hadn't seen him move… "How did you do that? I really don't need… mmmpphhh!" Inu-Yasha blinked as he suddenly found a thermometer stuck in his mouth.

The announcer blinked. "I thought you were just checking their hearing?" 

"I am. But it's useful for stopping patients from talking while I work." Ignoring Inu-Yasha's glare, the medic reached up and firmly grasped the half-youkai's two furry dog ears on top of his head. He closed his eyes and a soft white light surrounded his hands, then extended around the ears. Inu-Yasha looked surprised and then his eyes drifted closed as he smiled slightly. When the glow faded a few moments later and the medic released his hold on the ears, Inu-Yasha opened his eyes again and he actually seemed disappointed for a moment. The medic retrieved his thermometer.

"Um… thanks." Inu-Yasha spoke more quietly than usual, almost… shyly. The medic's mouth twitched into a small smile. 

"You're welcome." He turned to Sesshoumaru, a determined look in his eyes. The youkai lord stared back at him, just as determined. 

"I neither want, nor need, your assistance." There was a warning in his low growl, but the medic ignored it and walked over to him. He looked him straight in his amber eyes.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Don't make me hurt you." 

When Sesshoumaru almost smiled but didn't reply, the medic started reaching for the youkai's ears. He paused when a very sharp sword was suddenly pressed up against his throat. 

"I told you…" 

The medic sighed softly and interrupted his irritating patient. "The hard way, then." 

His eyes widened and turned pure silver as his hand grasped Sesshoumaru's wrist. The youkai lord didn't gasp, but he did inhale sharply as he found himself unable to move. The medic calmly released his hold and moved away from the sword. "This will only take a moment. Oh, and you'll be able to move again in plenty of time for the next round." Sesshoumaru growled in his throat as he was forced to submit to the indignity of having a stranger hold his ears. The moment the medic's hands, and Sesshoumaru's ears, began to glow though, Sesshoumaru's eyes closed. When the medic finally released him, having taken almost twice as long with him as with Inu-Yasha, Sesshoumaru seemed stunned. He stared at the medic in shock as the medic smiled slightly and moved on to Naraku. 

The evil half-youkai looked thoughtfully at the medic. "Can you heal… anything?" 

"Ears are my specialty." 

Naraku remained still and quiet for the moment that it took the medic to touch his ears. In fact, he seemed rather disappointed that the healing hadn't taken longer. Then he sneered at Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru. "My hearing isn't as fragile as yours." 

"By the way, you'll need to go to the infirmary to have your other problem dealt with."

Naraku scowled at the medic. "I'm fine." 

"You can't possibly compete like that." He turned to the two officials. "Ten to fifteen minutes should be more than enough time. I'll take him there now." 

The announcer and Judge both nodded, but it was the announcer who replied. "There's plenty of time yet. I'll wait until he gets back before giving the instructions for the next round. 

The medic nodded and held out his hand to Naraku. "Come along. Take my hand and I'll get you to the infirmary." As Naraku tentatively grasped the medic's hand, an unexpected gleam of mischief filled the medic's eyes. "I'm sure Jakotsu will be more than happy to look after you." 

"What?" Naraku's startled exclamation filled the air as the two suddenly winked out of sight. 

For a moment there was stunned silence in the locker room. As always, Inu-Yasha was the first one to break the peace. "Did he say… Jakotsu? As in… No way. He's dead!" 

The announcer seemed to be trying not to smile. "You forget Inu-Yasha, this contest is being held in 'present day' Japan. We brought all of you through time from the Feudal Era so you could compete. What makes you think that we didn't also recruit help from… oh say… further back in time… like before Jakotsu and the others died…" 

It took a minute for the implications to set in, then Inu-Yasha, Miroku, Kagome and Sango all burst out laughing. Even Sesshoumaru was almost smiling at the thought of Naraku being tended to in the infirmary by a very-much-alive Jakotsu. 

Rin looked at Jaken in confusion. Jaken looked back at her and shrugged, not getting it either.

For the next fifteen minutes, the mood in the locker room was surprisingly lighthearted. Especially when Shippo woke up and Inu-Yasha started to tease him about his fans, resulting in a serious of rapid-fire 'sits' from Kagome. Sesshoumaru actually managed a half-smile at the sight of his brother stretched out on the locker room floor, his hands and feet twitching.

Inu-Yasha had just jumped to his feet and started glaring at Kagome and the irritatingly smug kitsune sitting on her lap when there was a flash and a popping sound and a very frazzled-looking Naraku appeared up the far end of the room. Everyone blinked at him as he staggered forward and sat down, very gingerly, on the bench. He looked like he was in a state of shock. 

"Ah good, you're back! Now then, the instructions for the next round!" The announcer grinned, his eerie dark eyes gleaming with the anticipation of what he knew lay ahead. As soon as he had everyone's complete attention, he began. 

"First off, the official results for round three. Yes, I know that you already know them, but I still have to tell you." He gave Inu-Yasha a pointed look until the half-youkai closed his mouth again. "Naraku, Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru have made it through to round four. Kagura has been disqualified, since she is currently unconscious." No surprises there. Everyone waited for the announcer to continue. 

"Since there's absolutely no point in my asking you if anyone wants to pull out at this point, I'll just progress straight to the instructions and save us all some time. Any complaints? No, I didn't think there would be." The announcer grinned wryly. 

"So far, all of the rounds have been strictly one on one. But power isn't just about attack or defense. It's also about how well you can combine your strength with those of others. So, this round will be a test of teamwork. Here's how it will work." He paused to make sure that Naraku was listening and hadn't dozed off, since he was still looking rather stunned. 

"This round will be the hardest so far, not only because of the strength of the attacks used, but because, unlike the previous rounds, this time you will be fighting not once, but three times. One by one, each of you will team up with the Judge to battle against the other two. You each get to make one attack, however you may defend as much as necessary. You may use whatever abilities or weapons you would normally use, including barriers. The battle is over when all four participants have made their attack, unless the participant is unable to attack due to injury, lack of consciousness or a binding spell." At Inu-Yasha's snicker the announcer frowned. "Don't laugh, it happened three times in one of yesterday's events." Inu-Yasha blinked and stopped laughing.

"To pass this round, you must be conscious at the end of it. That may sound simple enough, but I warn you that it won't be easy. The three of you have faced each other before in battle, so you know what you're in for. But remember that this challenge is about teamwork. Which means that you must work with the Judge during your turn. If you do not, you risk disqualification! Do you understand?" The announcer gave Sesshoumaru and Naraku hard looks, apparently knowing the problems that they both had with the concept of 'teamwork'. Not that Inu-Yasha was much better, but at least he'd had some practice with it while fighting alongside Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Kagome and Shippo.

"There will be a brief break between each battle, to allow you to recover. All right, that's it. If you want to pull out, this is your last chance."

Inu-Yasha stood. "Are you kidding? This is going to be good." His golden eyes gleamed as one corner of his mouth turned up slightly to reveal one fang, his version of a wicked smirk. 

Sesshoumaru also stood and nodded at the announcer and the Judge. "I will proceed." 

"But of course." Naraku had apparently come out of his daze. He too stood and there was no sign of his earlier pain or discomfort as he stood smirking at the others. "Let the fun begin." 

"I think that was supposed to be my line," the announcer muttered to the Judge as they led the three remaining competitors back onto the field.

* * *

The crowd had learned their lesson from the last round's pre-start explosion. Although they cheered, screamed, whistled and otherwise carried on (including some genuine caterwauling from a large group of cat Youkai sitting together in one section of the stands), as soon as the announcer held up his hand for silence, you could have heard a pin drop! The announcer blinked and began to explain the rules of the round. 

As he did so, it was obvious to the watching fans that all three of the competitors on the field were deadly serious about the task ahead of them. Even Inu-Yasha was standing still and silent on his marker instead of swinging his sword, jumping around or waving at the crowd as he had before the other rounds. Sesshoumaru and Naraku were the same as always, although Naraku seemed to be rather jittery. Every now and then he'd send a worried glance towards the area where the medics were standing by in case of an injury.

"So, without further ado, let the fourth round of the Youkai Feudal Era Strength Competition begin!" 

* * *

As the stands erupted with cries louder than anything that had rocked the stadium before, the Judge beckoned for Naraku to come closer, and then indicated for Inu-Yasha to go and join Sesshoumaru. "You have two minutes to discuss any strategy that you want to discuss. On my whistle, the battle will commence. Remember, we each get only one attack, so make it count!" 

As Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha started glaring at each other, the Judge turned to Naraku. Before the cloaked figure could speak, Naraku said very softly. "Concentrate on Inu-Yasha. Leave Sesshoumaru to me." 

The Judge nodded. "As you wish." Technically, 'divide and conquer' counted as teamwork.

* * *

Sesshoumaru eyed his half-brother coldly. "Stay out of my way while I deal with Naraku." 

Inu-Yasha glared back at him. "No way! Naraku is mine! You can't even get past his barrier!" 

Sesshoumaru refused to listen. "You are nothing more than a pathetic half-youkai. I need no help from you to defeat Naraku! Stay out of my way or you will regret it!" 

Inu-Yasha moved in close, until barely a foot separated them. "Make me." 

They were so busy glaring at each other that they completely missed hearing the Judge's whistle.

* * *

The Judge's energy chain whipped out, almost catching Inu-Yasha before he bounded out of the way. At the same time, Naraku sent a powerful ball of miasma out towards Sesshoumaru, who impatiently batted it out the way with his sword, Toukijin. But Sesshoumaru was so intent on making his attack against Naraku that he didn't notice the ball of miasma reforming behind him!

Inu-Yasha silently cursed his brother's stubborn pride as he dodged the chain, trying to work his way back towards Sesshoumaru. His brother thought he didn't need him, but Inu-Yasha knew that Sesshoumaru would never be able to break through Naraku's barrier. Tetsusaiga could though! All he needed to do was to make his attack right before his brother! Whether Sesshoumaru liked it or not, Tetsusaiga would make a passage for Toukijin's blast to follow, straight to Naraku! The problem was going to be the timing…

The chain whipped forward and Inu-Yasha waited until the last moment before flipping over it and bounding quickly across the field. Sesshoumaru had Toukijin raised; he was bringing it down… now! With a wordless cry, Inu-Yasha started to summon the special barrier-shattering power of Tetsusaiga. As he did so, he thought with great satisfaction that this could well be the end of Naraku. But as he raised his sword, Naraku's miasma suddenly started to move in on Sesshoumaru from behind! The youkai lord quickly finished his attack, but the miasma struck before he could turn. It completely enveloped him!

Inu-Yasha could have attacked Naraku before Sesshoumaru, putting his plan into action, but when he saw the miasma in motion… Even as he silently called himself all kinds of fool, he redirected his attack so it struck the miasma instead. The powerful poison was no match for the strength of the attack. It disintegrated; leaving Sesshoumaru crouched on the field, alive and extremely annoyed.

"Inu-Yasha! That counted as a defense! You still have your attack to make." Inu-Yasha wasn't the only one surprised by the Judge's sudden call. His eyes lit up as Naraku shot a furious look at the Judge. Sesshoumaru raised his head and silently watched as his brother raised his sword again. 

The blade of Tetsusaiga was still blood red, so Inu-Yasha didn't waste any time in sending its barrier-shattering power across to Naraku. The evil half-youkai sneered, but there was a touch of uncertainty in his eyes as the attack ripped through his shield as though it was nothing! Naraku had been prepared for that though. If it had been a sudden attack, he could not have dodged it, but the Judge's call had let him know in advance what would happen so he was able to jump clear of the attack just in time! He had to rely on his 'fading into miasma' trick to escape though, which indicated just how close the attack had come to hitting him. 

The Judge raised a hand. "Five minutes to rest and then the next battle will begin." 

* * *

Inu-Yasha hesitated before crossing to where Sesshoumaru was still crouched. "Hey. You still alive?" 

"Get away from me." The low growl came as no surprise, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

"Hey! I just saved your…" Inu-Yasha suddenly paused, his nose picking up a scent that startled him. He could smell blood. His brother's blood. "Sesshoumaru?" 

"I said… **GET AWAY FROM ME**!" Sesshoumaru kept his head down, his hair covering his eyes, as he lashed out. His claws swiped at Inu-Yasha, although they didn't come close to getting him. That alone spoke volumes about how injured he was. Inu-Yasha silently backed away as the Judge, seeing the dispute, hurried over. 

"No fighting in-between… oh my…" The judge seemed to peer at Sesshoumaru, although it was hard to tell because of the hood. "Are you all right to continue?" When the only response was a low growl, the Judge turned to Inu-Yasha. "That is his blood that I can smell, right?"

"Yeah. But getting him to admit that he's too hurt to continue… don't waste your time. He'll fight until he goes down." Inu-Yasha looked annoyed, but there was also a faint trace of concern. "What I don't get is how he got hurt. Naraku's miasma was only on him for a moment and I don't see any bloodstains, so where's the smell coming from?" 

"Hmm…" The Judge started to walk around behind Sesshoumaru… and suddenly found a sword blocking his path. "I see… the miasma hit him from behind. The wound must be on his back. He's probably trying to hide it behind that fluffy thing of his."

"Huh…" Inu-Yasha started to move, clearly intending to check it out, but the Judge stopped him.

"Wait. Your turn is about to start. Besides, I doubt if it would do anything except make him angrier." 

"Yeah. I guess so." Inu-Yasha started to walk back to his marker, but paused. "Hey Sesshoumaru. Stay alive. I'd hate to have to tell your little girl you died." 

Sesshoumaru remained silent, but his hand clenched into a fist 

* * *

"Again, two minutes to discuss strategy and we start on my whistle!" The Judge turned to Inu-Yasha. "It's your test, so the strategy is your call." 

"That's easy. They'll both attack me and they won't wait long. I'll defend and then I'll attack Naraku. You attack him too, but wait until I can take out his barrier. My attack should blast him to pieces, so if you have a good attack that can clear up annoying little pieces spread over a wide area…" 

The Judge made a sound suspiciously like a choked laugh. "Understood. Ready?" 

Inu-Yasha's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. Let's do it!" 

* * *

Naraku eyed Sesshoumaru with cold calculation and thinly veiled amusement. "I will attack Inu-Yasha. What you do is no concern to me." 

Sesshoumaru was now standing up, showing no sign of injury. But his golden eyes blazed as he looked at Naraku. "Inu-Yasha is mine to kill." 

Naraku shrugged, his amusement now in plain sight. "So… it seems that we will both be targeting your brother then." 

"Half-brother." Sesshoumaru growled. 

The whistle sounded.

* * *

Sesshoumaru aimed Toukijin at Inu-Yasha and the powerful blast emerged from the sword and headed straight for him! At the same time, Naraku issued a blast of miasma easily twice as powerful as what he had used against Sesshoumaru! Inu-Yasha raised his sword and prepared himself to defend against the two attacks. 

Out of nowhere, a ball of light shot between Toukijin's blast and the dog-eared half-youkai. The light flickered and shot up into a curtain, the same defensive maneuver that the Judge had used on Kagura during the last round. As with Kagura's wind blades, Toukijin's power was caught in the folds of light. But this time, they did not emerge again. 

No longer needing to defend against two attacks at once, Inu-Yasha was easily able to strike the miasma heading for him. Unlike his brother during the previous battle though, Inu-Yasha didn't just slash it. He used the power of his sword to completely destroy the miasma so Naraku couldn't do the same thing to him as he'd done to Sesshoumaru. 

Then it was time to attack! Inu-Yasha powered up his blade until it was blood red. With a wordless cry, he ran forward a few steps and then slammed his sword down to the ground, releasing the energy within it. As he did so though, Naraku's tentacles whipped out, grabbing Sesshoumaru tightly and hauling him into the path of the oncoming attack! The youkai lord struggled, but the previous battle had seriously weakened him and he was unable to escape. 

Inu-Yasha saw the danger too late to stop his attack, but he somehow managed to hold back the last of the power before it left the sword. Still, he knew what he had done even before the attack finished and the dust cleared to reveal Naraku standing unhurt behind Sesshoumaru's fallen form. 

As Inu-Yasha tried to control his temper, a brilliant burst of light suddenly surged towards Naraku from the side! Naraku was so startled that he almost didn't get his barrier up. He was horrified when the light burst through the barrier with barely a hesitation! The attack knocked him into the air and he flew almost thirty feet before he landed hard on the ground. He managed to sit up, but when he tried to get to his feet, he couldn't quite make it. 

Inu-Yasha blinked at the Judge. "Whoa." 

"He left himself completely open, even though I still had my attack to make." The Judge started towards Sesshoumaru. After a moment's hesitation, Inu-Yasha followed. He was oddly reluctant to see how much damage he'd done. 

Over the wild cheers of the crowd, Inu-Yasha could hear a shrill young voice crying out, "Sesshoumaru-sama! Please don't die! Sesshoumaru-sama!" He tried to ignore the voice, but his ears refused to let him shut it out. 

Sesshoumaru was very badly hurt. Inu-Yasha was shocked at how much damage he'd done. He didn't even realise what he was doing until he'd dropped to his knees at his brother's side. "Great. The one time I'm **not** trying to kill him and I…" He couldn't finish. 

"He'll be all right, Inu-Yasha." The boy turned and stared up at the Judge in shock. "I know he's badly hurt, but he isn't dead. There's a safety spell over the stadium. No one can die during the competition, although they can certainly come close to it. The best healers that we could find are in the infirmary and they'll patch him up before you know it. He will be fine. You have my word. But you need to get out of the way now so the medics can do their job." 

"Oh. Yeah." More badly shaken than he'd ever have admitted, Inu-Yasha allowed the Judge to pull him to his feet and lead him back towards the locker room, via a slightly less than direct path so he didn't go anywhere near Naraku, who was currently struggling against the medics trying to load him on a stretcher to take him off the field. 

Since Sesshoumaru was unconscious, there was no need to test him. Round four was over. 

To be continued…


	6. The Final Round

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Inu-Yasha - A Feudal Fairytale and all related characters are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A very big thank you to everyone who's taken the time to review this! Again, a special thank you to Orlando-Bloom-fangirl, this time for the idea of security breaches at the infirmary ^_^ Oh, and Vorsith, don't worry, Naraku will pay for what he did to Sesshoumaru -_^

CONTENT NOTE: Fair warning, this chapter contains a very long, rather graphical, battle scene. And I do mean 'long'. It's a third of the whole story... ;^_^

****

The Youkai Strength Competition  
Chapter 6: The Final Round  
By Shadow's Mirror

Inu Yasha hesitated outside the locker room, nervous about entering and seeing Jaken and the little human girl that had been collected by Sesshoumaru at some point. He really didn't want to see the little girl. He knew he'd be hearing her cries in his sleep for some time as it was and he had no trouble imagining the accusing look in her large eyes. He had injured her Sesshoumaru-sama… even though it hadn't been intentional. "Blast Naraku… I should have known he'd do something like that. I should have seen it coming!" Inu-Yasha punched the wall angrily, leaving a rather large hole in it.

"What did that poor wall ever do to you? Save your anger for the competition, Inu-Yasha. It isn't over yet." The half-youkai turned to look at the Judge in surprise. For a moment he'd forgotten that he wasn't alone. Then the Judge's words sank in and Inu-Yasha looked thoughtful.

"Hey, that's right. With Sesshoumaru out, it's down to me and Naraku. I think. Naraku got carried off the field too. I don't suppose…" He looked hopefully at the Judge. "Think you did enough damage to take him out of the contest, or am I going to get a go at him next round?" 

"He was injured, but not seriously. The medics will have him patched up in no time, so I have no doubt that the next round will see his participation as well as yours. Now, in you go. You can't stand out here all day." 

"Why not?" Inu-Yasha muttered softly. He really didn't want to face the others. 

"They won't blame you. It was Naraku's trickery that caused this, and they all know it. Even the child." The Judge's voice was very soft, but Inu-Yasha could sense the sincerity in it. He nodded and went inside.

As soon as Inu-Yasha stepped into the room, Kagome threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and buried her face in his shirt. "Inu-Yasha!" Her voice was muffled, but he could tell by its shakiness that she was crying. Besides, her tears were soaking through his shirt. As his arms went around her, the bewildered boy looked around at the others.

"What's going on?" 

Miroku was standing a few feet away. He was oddly pale and he looked Inu-Yasha up and down before sighing softly in relief. "Oh good, you are uninjured. We were concerned. We heard that two of the competitors were injured, but not which ones." On his shoulder, Shippo sighed in relief too.

Inu-Yasha frowned. "You weren't watching?" He was more than a little insulted.

Shippo shivered. "Too many fans out there…" He'd already been caught by them once that day. Miroku nodded sadly, glancing wistfully towards the door. 

"Shippo didn't want to go out again so we stayed with him. Jaken and Rin went out though," he explained. "We heard the announcer say that two of the competitors were injured, but the crowd made so much noise at that point that we were unable to hear who they were."

"We knew Sesshoumaru was one of them when we heard Rin cry out. But we were afraid that you…" Sango stopped, unable to give voice to the terrible thoughts that had run through their minds in the past few minutes. She hugged the small cat-youkai in her arms a little more tightly but Kirara didn't seem to mind. She too was looking up at Inu-Yasha as though relieved that he was all right. 

"Oh. No, I'm fine. Not even a scratch. In the second battle, Naraku aimed for me but he missed and then…" Inu-Yasha's eyes clouded as he relived the battle in his mind. He was so caught up in his memory that he didn't realise he had instinctively drawn Kagome even closer. She shifted in his hold but didn't pull away, sensing that he needed her. 

"I attacked Naraku, but he used Sesshoumaru as a shield. I… I couldn't stop my attack from hitting him and… Sesshoumaru went down." Inu-Yasha could barely bring himself to say the words. He winced as his friends all gasped. "I know. I was an idiot. I should have known Naraku wouldn't play fairly. I should have expected him to do something evil." He waited for them to scold him. 

"Oh, Inu-Yasha! It wasn't your fault!" Kagome hugged him even more tightly as Sango, Miroku and Shippo echoed her reassurance. She felt him shudder as his tension suddenly eased and her heart ached for him. She knew how much he would have been torturing himself over how they would react. He always did that. Especially when he was blaming himself for something. "It wasn't your fault," Kagome repeated softly. "It was Naraku's." 

Inu-Yasha was about to reply when the door on the far side of the room burst open.

For a moment, as he stood with light shining from behind him and with a determined look on his face, it was one of the most impressive entrances Jaken had ever made. Then he tripped and fell into the room and the effect was ruined. 

Jaken quickly scrambled to his feet and looked around wildly. As soon as he spotted Inu-Yasha, he ran over. "Inu-Yasha! You have to come with me! Right away!" 

Inu-Yasha blinked down at the small toad-like youkai tugging with both hands on his sleeve. "Jaken? What's up? Why aren't you with…?" He tensed. "Has something happened? Sesshoumaru…?"

Jaken scowled up at him as he tried unsuccessfully to tug him to the door. "That's why I'm here! The security guards won't let anyone into the infirmary unless they're family! The fools say Rin and I don't count! They won't let us in to see Sesshoumaru-sama! You're his brother, so they'll only let us in if you say it's all right!" He suddenly collapsed at Inu-Yasha's feet, sobbing pitifully. "My poor Sesshoumaru-sama! He needs me and I can't go to him!" As he wailed, Inu-Yasha's sharp hearing caught a faint sound from the doorway. He looked up and tensed. Rin was standing there, her face tear-stained and her eyes so sad they would have melted even the coldest heart. 

"All right! That's enough, Jaken! I get the idea! Come on then." He hauled the startled minion up by his belt, so he was dangling in the air, and turned to his friends. "I'll be back as soon as I get this sorted out. If the Judge and announcer come by, can you let them know what's going on?" 

Kagome gave Inu-Yasha one last hug before stepping away. She nodded. "We will." He smiled at her and headed for the door, his smile fading as he drew closer to the small girl standing there. "Come on Rin. Let's go get you and Jaken in to see Sesshoumaru." She nodded, hope filling her eyes. As he strode down the hall, he could hear the quick pad of her little feet following him. The sound made him feel oddly protective of her and he couldn't help but wonder if that was the way his brother felt too, whenever he heard it.

* * *

The first thing Inu-Yasha noticed on reaching the infirmary was the large crowd of very large youkai standing barring the way. Since each of them was wearing a black zip-up jacket with a black on silver badge stating 'Security', they were obviously the guards Jaken had mentioned. 

The second thing he noticed was the large pile of unconscious youkai, all wearing the same black jackets and security badges, lying on the floor just behind the row of guards. He blinked. "What happened to them?" 

One of the security guards, a large ape-youkai, winced. "Security breaches. We've been having them all day. Most of the fans have been okay. They give us messages, flowers, chocolates, fruit, plushies, stuff like that, to give to their heroes and then they go away peacefully. Others… Well let's just say that some fans get very annoyed if someone tries to get between them and their idol…"

Inu-Yasha winced. "Yeah. I see that. Anyway, I'm…"

"Oh, yes, we all know who you are, sir. Please, go right in. Your brother is in the sixth room on the left. It's the second one around the corner and it's right before the one where all the noise is coming from. You can't miss it. Family only past this point though, I'm afraid," he added as he eyed the little girl peeking out from behind Inu-Yasha. Since it was a youkai competition she definitely wasn't related to anyone in the infirmary and his orders were clear.

Inu-Yasha blinked at the odd directions. "Um… thanks… Oh, they're with me." He nodded towards Rin and held up Jaken, who was still dangling by his belt in the half-youkai's grasp. "Sesshoumaru's minion and… um…" He looked at Rin for a moment before shrugging at the guard. "I have no idea what she is to my brother, but he'd definitely be annoyed if you didn't let her in to see him." 

The guard winced and nodded. "That's good enough for me." He stepped aside and let them through. Some orders were made to be broken, especially when doing so meant that he wouldn't be killed by an annoyed youkai lord…

* * *

The infirmary turned out to be one long twisting corridor with doors all both sides of it. Most of the doors were open and Inu-Yasha could see into the rooms as they passed. Most seemed to have just an odd metal bed and a bedside table and uncomfortable-looking chair in them, although there was one that had a long table with chairs around it and another that had a very unfriendly looking woman in a prim white apron and cap sitting behind a desk marked 'Information'. Inu-Yasha held his breath and got past that room as quickly and quietly as possible, so she didn't see him. They had just passed the fourth door on the left and turned the corner when he stopped in surprise. 

If the loud complaints that could now be heard weren't enough of a shock, the sight of the woman leaning against the wall beside the second door on the left definitely was. The voice from the room beside Sesshoumaru's was definitely Naraku's, while the woman…

"Kagura. Still alive, huh?" Inu-Yasha smirked.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Kagura smiled and lazily turned her head, but she moved more quickly to catch Rin as she ran past. "Whoa! Slow down, kid! You really don't want to go in there right now." 

"What? Why not? What's going on? What are they doing to Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken tried to wriggle out of Inu-Yasha's grasp as his transport moved closer to Kagura.

Inu-Yasha's eyes were shadowed as he looked past Kagura at the door. "Are they healing him?" 

"Not exactly." Kagura smirked. "He's being… tidied up for visitors." 

"What?" Three sets of surprised eyes blinked at her and she laughed.

"They've been having a few problems with security. Some fans got in to Sesshoumaru and… they messed up his hair. The minute Yura saw it, she insisted on fixing it for him." Kagura shook her head. "Talk about obsessed… and I thought Naraku was bad with his insistence on wearing that awful baboon pelt…" 

"Wait a minute… Yura? Yura of the Hair?" Inu-Yasha blinked. Yura had been one of the first youkai he and Kagome had defeated after the Shikon no Tama had been broken. She had eventually met her end when the comb protecting her soul had been shattered by Kagome and one of her arrows. For a moment Inu-Yasha was confused, but then he remembered something he'd been told earlier. Quite a few youkai had been brought from other times specifically to help out during the competition.

"Yeah. You know her?" Kagura looked curious.

"Kagome… uh… Yeah, we've met. Or will meet. Something like that. She's evil, anyway. She uses hair to manipulate people like puppets. She also likes to collect heads." Inu-Yasha eyed the door again, this time warily. As he recalled, Yura had been particularly intrigued by his hair…

Kagura looked thoughtful. "Well… that explains it." 

Inu-Yasha blinked. "Explains what?" 

"Her comments about how she'd have to go after his hair as soon as she was back in the Feudal Era. She really has a thing for hair, doesn't she? She keeps saying how soft and silky his is. That's why I'm out here. If she'd asked him what he used on it one more time, I was ready to burst out laughing. Considering how annoyed he was at the time, that would have been bad. I didn't particularly feel like being used as target practice for that sword of his."

It took Inu-Yasha a while to sift through all that information. Jaken however immediately latched on to one thing. "You were in there with Sesshoumaru-sama?" He glared at her.

Kagura shrugged. "Sure. Why not? It's not like they'll let me do much else around here. I've been wandering around since I was strong enough to get out of bed… which was about ten minutes after they brought me in here. Their healers are good… and fast!"

Inu-Yasha looked interested. "Seen any of the others?" Kagura nodded. 

"I came across Kouga first. He was joking with his friends while a cute nurse fussed over him. Ayame, I think her name was. Anyway, he's fine but they won't let him leave. Something about their worrying that he'd try to interrupt the last round… I sat with Kanna for a while after that, but that was boring. They're keeping her in a bespelled sleep. Apparently there's some concern that Naraku might try to use her to cheat in the contest." She pulled a face, obviously agreeing, then smirked.

"Then they brought Sesshoumaru in and I thought I'd annoy him for a while. It was either that or visit Naraku. No choice, really. Although, from what I've been hearing from Naraku's room, it might have been almost as amusing. He and Jakotsu have been trading insults and very suggestive comments ever since I've been standing here. The insults are Naraku's, by the way. Although… I think Jakotsu's starting to wear Naraku down. He's started repeating himself." Her eyes gleamed with amusement.

"So, I was in with Sesshoumaru when the fans raided. Oh, that was educational, I must say! On top of quite a few other things that I'll be mentioning to him as frequently as possibly from now on, I never knew there were so many theories about that fluffy thing of his. I was talking to one of the security guards about it just before you got here. He said he's been hearing them all day." 

Inu-Yasha looked interested. "Really? Like what?" 

Kagura smirked. "Let's see… most say it's his tail, quite a number swear it's part of his armour, a few say it's a weapon, a few more say it's a mode of transport and some believe it's purely a fashion statement. A couple are convinced it was his father's and others are just as convinced it wasn't. There have been claims that it's the pelt of a great enemy, or a lot of not-so-great enemies, or even his father." Inu-Yasha blinked at that one. "There was also one group who begged to know the name of his tailor, since they'd been looking everywhere for an extra-large feather boa. There was even one guy who insisted it was armpit hair. Apparently he told the guard to pass along his congratulations on being able to grow it out of only one armpit." 

As Inu-Yasha snickered, Kagura shook her head. "One of the fans who got in asked him about it. You know what Sesshoumaru said it was? His!" She and Inu-Yasha traded a look before they both burst into laughter. 

Throughout the conversation, Jaken had been struggling to get free. For the last few minutes, he'd been whacking Inu-Yasha repeatedly with his staff. As soon as his laughter faded away to a few chuckles, Inu-Yasha lifted him up so they were eye to eye. "You wanted something?" 

"Yes. Put me down! I want to see Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama needs me! Put me down, put me down, put me down!" As he cried out, he wriggled in agitation. 

From the next room, a voice came clearly. "I really wish he would!" 

Inu-Yasha scowled in the voice's direction, easily recognising Jakotsu's voice. "Fine! There!" As he dropped Jaken on the floor, the voice came again. 

"Oh good!" 

Kagura put her ear to the door of Sesshoumaru's room and looked thoughtful. "Well, I can't hear anything. She's either finally stopped praising his hair or he's killed her." 

Inu-Yasha sighed. Since Kagome eventually killed Yura, she had probably just stopped talking. He could hope though. "Might as well get this over with," he muttered as Kagura pushed the door open. 

"Sesshoumaru! You have visitors!" Kagura's grin faded as she got a good look at what was going on. She rushed into the room. "Get your hands off him!" 

The dark haired female youkai, scantily clad even by youkai standards, jerked back with a guilty look on her face. "What? I was just… combing his hair…" 

Kagura glared at her. "With that?" She pointed to the object in Yura's hands and the youkai girl smiled sheepishly and swiftly hid it behind her back. 

"Um… It's not what you think…" As Kagura stalked towards her, Yura backed away. When there was nowhere left to run, her eyes darted nervously around in search of an escape route. 

"I think you were about to use that sword in your hands to cut off his hair!" Kagura glared at her opponent and made a swift move towards her. Yura gasped and dove under the bed. Rolling to her feet on the other side, she sheathed her sword and headed for the door. 

"Oh, I guess it is what you think… Gotta go… See you later, Sesshoumaru!" 

Inu-Yasha pulled Rin and Jaken out of the way as Yura ran out the door and headed off down the hallway. The three peeked into the room in time to hear Kagura mumble, "In your dreams. That's the last time you get anywhere near him. There is no way you're getting his hair." 

Jaken gasped when he saw the state Sesshoumaru was in. Yura had used her control over hair to bind him tightly to the bed so he couldn't move while she gave him her version of a haircut. He didn't look happy. When he saw Inu-Yasha peering at him, he looked even less happy. "Leave. Now." 

"If he leaves now, you're going to be stuck like that. She's bound your swords to the bed too. Serves you right for insisting that they stay with you. Unless of course you trust your servant to use that staff of his… I suppose he might be able to do it without setting fire to you as well…" Kagura looked doubtfully at the hair, the bed and Jaken, who scowled up at her in response. 

Sesshoumaru glared at her, then at Inu Yasha. He growled softly, but didn't say a word as Inu-Yasha, smirking the entire time, cut through the hair. When he was free, he was about to repeat his demand when he was distracted. Jaken had grabbed hold of his empty left sleeve and was sobbing into it. At the same time, Rin was trying to climb up on the bed on his right side. Sesshoumaru went very still as Inu-Yasha suddenly picked her up and put her on the bed, far more gently than the youkai lord would have thought possible for his normally heavy-handed younger brother. 

Inu-Yasha's smirk softened into a genuine smile as he watched the small child snuggle into his brother's fur. He was still smiling as he met his brother's eyes. "I just came to get them past the guards. I'll mention what happened with Yura on my way out." He turned to leave. For some reason, the sight of Rin's reunion with Sesshoumaru had made him anxious to return to his friends. 

"Inu-Yasha." The voice made him pause at the doorway, but he didn't turn around. "Defeat Naraku." 

"I intend to."

* * *

The mood in the locker room was far lighter after the gang heard the news from the infirmary. Not only were they pleased that Kouga was fine, but Sesshoumaru and Naraku's predicaments had given them a few good chuckles too. When Naraku came through the door with a furious expression on his face, the group was hard pressed to keep from laughing out loud. As it was, their snickers made him glare at them. 

Naraku was still mentally running through appropriate methods of torture for them when the door opened again, this time admitting the Judge and the announcer. They looked far more serious than the other times they'd come. Everyone immediately gave them their complete attention and the tension in the room was so thick that it was almost visible. 

"Well… this is it. This next round will be the last in this competition." The announcer looked around the room. "Inu-Yasha and Naraku, you have both done well to get this far. For one of you though, this round will hold your defeat."

He studied the two. Inu-Yasha looked far more serious than usual. There was none of his earlier smug confidence. Naraku on the other hand… he was all arrogance as he leaned against one of the lockers with a smirk on his face. The announcer wasn't surprised by either reaction.

"I have to ask you, one last time, do either of you wish to concede defeat at this point?" 

"Never." Inu-Yasha's voice was a low growl, filled with menace and hatred. The announcer blinked.

"I agree. I haven't come this far to back out now. Especially when victory is within my grasp." Naraku sneered at Inu-Yasha, but the look was wasted on him since he was refusing to look in Naraku's direction. 

The announcer nodded. "Very well then. Here are your instructions for the final round. In this round, the two of you will face each other in battle. The only restriction is that you must both remain in the arena at all times. So, if you flee, you will be disqualified immediately. The barrier spells will remain in place, so that neither of you will be able to kill the other, however I must remind you both that these spells protect only against death. Severe injury is still possible." He eyed the two half-youkai. "In this case, I'd say it's more along the lines of being definitely probable. That's it. This contest has all come down to one battle. It will end when only one of you, the winner, remains conscious. Is that clear?" 

Inu-Yasha nodded briefly. There was an odd stillness to the air around him, as though he was so tense and focused that he was drawing in energy from everything in his vicinity. His golden eyes gleamed with determination and seemed to be deeper in colour than usual. His gaze also seemed to be far more intense. There was something in his eyes that hinted at how long he had been waiting for this moment, and how much he was going to enjoy having a chance to go against Naraku.

Naraku had also tensed, but the first reaction in his eyes hadn't been pleasure. A flash of fear had flickered deep in his dark eyes as he heard the words he hadn't expected to hear. He had expected a one-on-one battle against the Judge, or even a two-on-one battle, but this… this was worrying. The little whelp had come close to destroying him on a couple of occasions. Naraku hid his concern behind a mask, smirking to disguise the sudden coldness trickling down his spine. Surely he wasn't actually… afraid? Him… afraid… of a pathetic little half-youkai pup with an oversized sword and an ego to match? Ha! Not likely! 

Naraku's smirk became real as he reminded himself that this time would be different. This time Inu-Yasha would be facing him alone, instead of with all his friends! Together, the group was a problem. By himself… Inu-Yasha was nothing!

All of that took only a moment to run through his mind. It was a barely noticeable hesitation before he smirked and nodded to the announcer. "Perfectly clear." 

* * *

The roar of the crowd shook the stadium with its force. Obviously all of the cheering, screaming, wild yelling, whistling, crying, caterwauling, fainting, squealing, applauding and expectation that had filled the stadium during the earlier rounds had merely been practice for this, the final round of the competition. The fans were all on the edges of their seats as they waited for the battle to begin. 

Anyone who knew anything about the history between the two final competitors knew what a long-awaited match this was, on both sides. There was a long list of grievances against Naraku, and an even longer list of the people and youkai who wanted to see him defeated. Inu-Yasha and his friends all headed that list. On Naraku's side… he had hated Inu-Yasha ever since he had first learned about his existence. For fifty years he had believed himself rid of the half-dog-youkai, but that had proven to be only a temporary respite. Inu-Yasha had been hunting him ever since he had learned the truth behind what had happened on the day he had been sealed. Although this battle would not be the ultimate end that they both sought, it would still be the first time they had fought face to face in quite some time. They were both strong. They both knew each other's moves. This would be interesting.

Naraku stood at one side of the field, Inu-Yasha stood on the other. About 60 feet separated the two of them. The Judge stood with the announcer on the small stage up one end of the field, one hand in the air. At the signal, the final round of the Feudal Era Youkai Strength Challenge would begin.

A glow surrounded the Judge's hand and then shot up into the air, where it soundlessly exploded in a brilliant burst of light. As the Judge sat down to watch the final round, the announcer muttered, "Mine was larger," just loud enough for the Judge to hear him.

"Perhaps, but at least mine didn't half deafen everyone," the Judge muttered back. 

* * *

The signal was still clear in the sky as Inu-Yasha drew his sword, Tetsusaiga, from its sheath and charged towards his enemy. His golden eyes gleamed with determination and Tetsusaiga pulsed. A crackle of energy passed along the blade. Where the energy passed, the fang blade turned as red as blood. In that form, the sword had the power to break any barrier, including Naraku's! 

Naraku stood calmly as Inu-Yasha ran towards him. He had put the few minutes of waiting time to good use, formulating a plan that would leave the insolent puppy writhing on the ground in a matter of moments. Best of all, he wouldn't need to exert himself. Inu-Yasha was rushing headlong into his trap! Naraku knew he had to time it perfectly. Too early and Inu-Yasha might have time to stop his plan. Too late and he might be able to get his attack off. He had to strike at just the right moment… 

Now!

Just as Inu-Yasha began to raise his sword into the air, tentacles whipped out from beneath Naraku's clothes, and wrapped around the boy! One tentacle held his arm so he couldn't complete his attack, the others wrapped around his body, squeezing him tightly so he could barely breathe and preventing him from moving. Naraku sneered at his captive as he moved in closer. "Inu-Yasha… did you honestly believe that you could defeat me without anything even remotely resembling a strategy? A frontal assault. How predictable. " 

As he spoke, Naraku's eyes gleamed and his hair and clothes began to flutter as though tossed by a wild wind. He lazily held out one hand towards Inu-Yasha. The noxious miasma that was Naraku's trademark attack streamed from his fingertips, enveloping his captive. The half-youkai turned his head away, in an attempt to keep it out of his face at least a little, but the gas was everywhere. He coughed as smoke began to rise from his clothes. But that wasn't all Naraku did. 

One of the tentacles that were wrapped around Inu-Yasha began to grow stingers almost three inches long! The barbs stuck into the captive boy, delivering their poison into his bloodstream wherever they pierced his skin. Naraku looked on in malicious glee as Inu-Yasha gasped in pain. 

"I had expected more from you, Inu-Yasha. That was really quite pathetic of you. Even that little fox-child you associate with could do better than that. In fact, I'm sure that he will. I may not be able to kill you today, but now that I know how weak you are, I will come after you. Once you are dead, I will go after your friends, one by one. I think I'll make the kitsune my first target." 

Fury flooded through Inu-Yasha at those words. Eyes ablaze his head whipped around so he was glaring at Naraku. When he spoke, his voice was a low snarl. "You'll have to get past me first." 

He focused all of his energy into one action. His anger lent him the strength he needed. The tentacle holding his arm strained and suddenly snapped as Inu-Yasha broke free! As Naraku gasped in shock, his opponent brought the red blade of Tetsusaiga down in a smooth arc, delivering its attack! The blast shattered Naraku's barrier as if it was nothing but air, leaving Naraku shaken and vulnerable. But Inu-Yasha wasn't finished. His blade faded from red to its usual gleaming silvery-white and he brought it down again, and again, slashing through the tentacles that held him prisoner until they were nothing more than pieces lying on the ground around him. 

Naraku sent more tentacles out, but Inu-Yasha destroyed them with a single swing. As Naraku sent even more out towards his opponent, he smiled an eerie smile. His expression did not go unnoticed though. Inu-Yasha caught a brief glimpse of it in-between attacks and wondered at the cause of Naraku's glee. He didn't pause to think about it, since there were more tentacles coming his way. Instead, he continued to destroy every tentacle that Naraku sent out, until there was a pile of pieces surrounding him. 

Naraku's eyes flashed and the pieces lying on the ground suddenly rose up, obeying their master's will as they surrounded Inu-Yasha! They clung to him and his clothes began to smoke where they touched. As more and more pieces clung to the struggling boy, they began to merge together until they had formed a shell completely encasing him! Naraku's laughter echoed around the arena as the watching crowd gasped in horror, certain that the battle was over. 

The shell suddenly shattered, light bursting from within it as the fragments of shell dissolved under the intense attack. Naraku gasped, his eyes widening in horror as the light headed straight for him! It struck him before he could make any move to defend himself and he was knocked down to the ground by its force. As he struggled to sit up, wincing at the pain his movements caused, a shadow fell over him. He looked up and barely managed to keep from shivering in sudden fear. 

Inu-Yasha stood over him, his sword pointing straight at Naraku's chest. His top hung in tatters around him and he impatiently pulled the shredded fabric off completely, leaving his chest and abdomen bare and causing more than a few fangirls (and fanyoukai) in the audience to collapse in delight. He was panting and it was obvious that Naraku's attacks had done considerable damage to him. He was covered in blood from the wounds he had received from the poisoned barbs earlier, and there was a flush on his cheeks that signalled the start of the poison's effect on him. Despite all that though, he was still standing and more than willing to continue fighting.

"Did you really think that trick would get me? I've seen it before, remember. It's all over. Say goodbye, Naraku." He raised his sword.

Before Inu-Yasha could make his attack, Naraku threw out his hand and the air was suddenly thick with the noxious clouds of his miasma! As the poisonous fumes engulfed his opponent, the evil half-youkai sneered. "I'm not done yet." 

The swirling clouds of miasma grew until they covered almost half of the arena. The crowd craned their necks, trying to see into the thick fog but it was no use. The moments passed and the crowd began to mutter amongst themselves, wondering what was going on. Their mutters turned into a roar of approval as a figure suddenly leaped out of the cloud!

Inu-Yasha landed and crouched down, his senses straining to detect Naraku's presence. He had to be in there somewhere; it was just a matter of finding him. The disgusting smell of the miasma made it difficult for him to concentrate though. It tickled his nose and caused him to feel faint. Not to mention that the stuff itself was making him cough. He also felt more than a little sick. Inu-Yasha cursed to himself. It wasn't just the miasma affecting him. The poison was starting to work its way through his bloodstream. He could feel it beginning to weaken him. This was not good. 

He stood up and raised his sword. Time was no longer on his side. The longer the battle lasted, the more the poison would circulate and the weaker he'd get. He had to end this quickly! But before he could attack, he had to find… 

A movement within the miasma caught his attention. A dark shape that the gas seemed to be swirling around instead of through. Inu-Yasha smiled and brought his sword down. "Kaze no Kizu!" 

As his sword hit the ground in front of him, three blazing lines of energy struck out at their target. The powerful attack parted the miasma and Inu-Yasha gasped as he was finally able to make out the figure standing there. "No! Kagome!" It was far too late to stop the attack. Inu-Yasha sank to his knees as the blazing lines of energy converged on Kagome. He shuddered as he was forced to watch helplessly as the energy swallowed her up. He bowed his head, his ears ringing with her screams. 

"Inu-Yasha! That wasn't me! I'm here! Inu-Yasha!" 

His eyes snapped open and his head turned as her voice rang out across the arena. There! In the entry to the hallway that led to the locker room! Kagome was safe! She waved to him urgently, her face a mask of fear and worry. Inu-Yasha breathed a sigh of relief as he realised what Naraku had done. He had manipulated the miasma into a false image of Kagome… just because he could. Even in the middle of this battle, Naraku was still playing his evil little mind games. Rage burned in the boy's heart. For that, Naraku would pay. Dearly. 

Inu-Yasha surged to his feet, his sword rising as the wind of the Kaze no Kizu whirled around it. Before he could complete his attack though, a tentacle whipped out of the miasma and caught his arm. As he struggled to break free, another tentacle caught him around the waist and tugged… hard. Inu-Yasha gasped as he was pulled back into the poisonous cloud!

As he struggled to breathe amid the noxious fumes, Inu-Yasha was vaguely aware of movement ahead. He gripped Tetsusaiga tightly, waiting for an opportunity to use it. Sooner or later, Naraku would make a mistake and he needed to be ready. When the massive form of Naraku in his full spider-youkai form loomed out of the miasma directly in front of him though, Inu-Yasha had a sudden moment of doubt. He wasn't worried about the size, he'd fought larger youkai and won, but he'd forgotten just how bad Naraku's breath was in that form…

Naraku sneered at his captive as his tentacles strung Inu-Yasha up in front of him, one holding each wrist and ankle in such a way that he was suspended in mid air. "What's wrong Inu-Yasha? You look so pale. Where is that strength of yours now? Surely a little poison wouldn't trouble you." He gave a malicious chuckle as he moved nearer. "Or perhaps, you're still upset over that little… incident… with Kagome earlier."

Inu-Yasha's golden eyes blazed as he jerked his head up. "Give it up Naraku. I know that was just an illusion. Even if you did catch Kagome, your miasma would never be able to hide her like that. She'd purify it in a heartbeat!" He winced as Naraku, infuriated over being reminded of the truth, slashed at him with one of his legs, causing a line of fiery pain to burn across his chest. Each of Naraku's legs was tipped with a poisonous talon sharp enough to cut down a tree. Inu-Yasha's skin was tougher than a human's, but it was no match for those talons. Still he managed a smirk. "Truth hurts, doesn't it?" 

Naraku snarled and slashed at his overly-talkative captive again, creating a second cut alongside the first. "You more so than I. Keep talking Inu-Yasha. The more you annoy me, the more I'll strike." He suddenly smirked. "On second thought, don't bother. I don't need to be annoyed to strike you. I'll do it just for the fun of it!" His dark eyes gleamed with triumph as he slashed Inu-Yasha again, this time in a downward arc so the resulting cut ran from the boy's right shoulder down to near his left hip. 

Inu-Yasha winced, but refused to give Naraku the satisfaction of hearing him cry out. Things were starting to look pretty bad though. He could feel the poison draining his strength and now that he was in the middle of the miasma, with poison in every laboured breath he took, it was working on him twice as rapidly! If he was going to get out of this, he needed to do something… fast! There was just one chance… if he could summon up enough strength to do it.

He closed his senses off, forcing himself to ignore everything that was going on, including the pain and Naraku's taunts and jeers. Focusing all his strength inward, he gathered as much power as he could and sent it into his sword. Tetsusaiga pulsed in his grasp and he felt the pull of the fang blade. It hungered for battle and Inu-Yasha was only too happy to oblige it. He tensed and summoned all of his strength, straining against the tentacle that bound his sword arm.

Naraku saw the boy struggling against his bonds and sneered. "You won't be able to…" He bit off his words with a gasp as Inu-Yasha made a sudden movement with his wrist, bringing the sword down just enough to slash the binding tentacle! His arm free, Inu-Yasha quickly finished the attack, his blazing eyes locked on Naraku's as the lines of power blazed out from the sword, with Naraku in their sights! 

"Kaze no Kizu!" 

There was barely a moment between Inu-Yasha's cry and the searing pain that struck Naraku right across his face. It was just enough time for Naraku to realise that he had severely misjudged this half-youkai brat. With the pain almost blinding him, he reacted instinctively. His miasma burst out, thickening the already dense fog as Naraku stumbled away. Normally he would have been making so much noise that Inu-Yasha could have easily located him, but his gamble paid off. Inu-Yasha was too busy escaping from the strength-stealing miasma to attack again.

The boy leaped out of the miasma for the second time in the battle. This time though, he was in far worse condition. He barely managed to land on his feet instead of crashing to the ground. As it was, he stumbled slightly from pain and exhaustion. 

Turning to face the swirling clouds of poison again, Inu-Yasha released a harsh snarl as his eyes blazed. He'd come close that time. He'd done some damage. But close wasn't good enough! Naraku had the upper hand. With his miasma in place, all he had to do was stay hidden and he would win. Inu-Yasha knew it wouldn't be long before the poison would take the last of his strength. As soon as he fainted from it, Naraku would be declared the winner. He didn't even have to make another attack, not unless Inu-Yasha could work out a way of forcing him out into the open. Or of defeating him while he was hiding inside his poisonous fog. 

Inu-Yasha glared at the clouds of miasma hovering over the field like a poisonous storm. There was more to the miasma than there seemed. It wasn't just poison. Naraku had made it more potent by adding some of his own power to it. There was so much power in the air it was making Inu-Yasha's skin tingle and he could even smell Naraku's energy swirling and moving within it. The boy went still as the thought crystallized in his mind. Then he began to smile.

Within the miasma, shadowy forms began to appear as Naraku spiced up the battle with a little mental cruelty. When Inu-Yasha tried to use his sword on them, they would reveal themselves as images of his friends. Naraku smirked as he waited for the impulsive half-youkai's attack. He frowned when it did not come. Surely Inu-Yasha hadn't already fainted from the poison?

Beyond the edge of the miasma cloud, Inu-Yasha didn't notice the shadows. He stood with his head bowed and his eyes closed as he focused all of his senses onto one task: finding the most explosive spot in the swirling power! His nose and ears twitched, but other than that he made no movement. He stood with both hands gripping his sword in front of him as the winds of the Kaze no Kizu wound around the blade. As soon as he knew where he needed to strike, he would be ready to do so!

Naraku smirked as he sensed the growing power of the impending attack. Believing himself safe within his miasma, he began to laugh. "Foolish pup. Do you really believe that your attack would do any damage from all the way over there? Even if you were able to find me, I would have more than enough time to avoid your attack before it could reach me!"

Inu-Yasha's eyes snapped open. He had hoped that Naraku's ego would compel him to speak and it had, giving away his location in the process! Once he knew where Naraku was, the rest was easy. He just needed to choose the most explosive spot in that direction! Inu-Yasha was smiling as he raised his sword and brought it down with a cry that made Naraku's smirk fade into a look of confused shock.

"Bakuryuuha!" 

Tetsusaiga pulsed as it slashed through the air, then blazed with light as Inu-Yasha called forth the fang blade's ultimate attack. The crackling energy ripped through the air, striking the miasma. Instead of cutting through the poisonous cloud though, the energy began to absorb it! As it did so, it increased in strength and began to change, dividing and then forming into six massive wind twisters, each one energised with both the sword's power and the power that Naraku had put into his miasma! The twisters whirled rapidly through the fading clouds, draining the power in them as they went. Within moments they had drained away almost all of the miasma. There was nothing left but a faint haze over the field. Naraku was now clearly visible. 

He tried to move out of the way, but there was nowhere he could go. The Bakuryuuha didn't rely on accurate aim, or even proximity to the target, to hit. Once Tetsusaiga struck the right place and ignited the blast, a general direction was enough, because the attack spanned a considerable area through its own nature. Between them, the six energy twisters were spread wide enough apart to make escape impossible. Once one of them hit Naraku, the others immediately converged on him. He tried to fight back, but the more power he used on them, the stronger they became! By the time he realised that the attack was turning his own power against him, it was too late. The twisters were already upon him.

One of the whirlwinds struck Naraku in the middle of his back, pinning him to the ground. It hit at the precise spot where his spider-shaped scar was. He cried out as agony seared through him, more intensely than it ever had before. The energy twisters were beginning to fade, but they were beyond Naraku's notice as he fell into the arms of oblivion. 

The audience surged to their feet, the stadium thundering with their applause and shaking with their shouts and cheers as Naraku slumped unconscious to the ground. Inu-Yasha remained still for a long moment, holding his last attack position, while he watched his opponent for any signs of movement. Finally accepting that the battle really was over, he released his control over Tetsusaiga, allowing the blade to regain its usual battered form. He stuck its point into the ground and released a heavy sigh as he sank to his knees in exhaustion and pain. 

The poison was now coursing through his body. Every breath was a struggle and his vision was beginning to blur. As he knelt on the field, Inu-Yasha could smell his blood and he knew it was falling to the grass around him from the wounds he had sustained. The poison was affecting his body's natural healing ability so the wounds were not closing on their own, as they should have been. He felt every ache and pain and he knew his wounds were serious, but not life-threatening. Now that the battle was over, he'd soon be fine. He might even celebrate. But first, there was one last thing he had to do. 

Inu-Yasha pulled himself to his feet and looked over towards the stage where the Judge and announcer were. It took more of his remaining strength than he liked, but he raised one arm and waved. The announcer stepped up to the microphone. 

"Ladies, Gentlemen, Youkai, Fans, Shikon-seeing Schoolgirls, Priestesses alive and undead, Glomp-willing Monks, Glomp-stopping Exterminators, Oblivious Wolf Leaders, Fluffy Youkai Lords and Minions of varying degrees of sarcasm, willingness, cuteness and intelligence. May I present the winner of the Feudal Era Youkai Strength Challenge… Inu-Yasha!" 

To be continued…


	7. After the Contest

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Inu-Yasha - A Feudal Fairytale and all related characters are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, after an embarrassingly long time, here it is at last, the final chapter! I just want to say a very big thank you to my wonderful Beta, Vash is my Angel, and also to everyone who's taken the time to read and review this story. Thank you all so very much! I hope you all enjoy this last chapter.

**The Youkai Strength Competition  
Chapter 7: After the Contest**  
By Shadow's Mirror

"Ladies, Gentlemen, Youkai, Fans, Shikon-seeing Schoolgirls, Priestesses alive and undead, Glomp-willing Monks, Glomp-stopping Exterminators, Oblivious Wolf Leaders, Fluffy Youkai Lords and Minions of varying degrees of sarcasm, willingness, cuteness and intelligence. May I present the winner of the Feudal Era Youkai Strength Challenge… Inu-Yasha!"

- - -

As the announcer's voice rose into the air, it was almost swallowed by the roars and cheers of the crowd seated around the massive stadium where the last battle in the Youkai Strength Competition had just been fought.

The winner of the contest swayed a little as he stood with one hand on the hilt of his massive sword. Fortunately for Inu-Yasha, the tip of the blade was stuck into the earth, so it was steady enough for him to lean on it without pushing it over. He slowly lifted his head and looked around as best he could, his eyesight blurry from the poison that Naraku had used on him during the final round.

He was so tired.

His blood was on fire, burning from the poison flowing with it through his body. Every part of his body ached and he felt the familiar tightness across his chest that told him he'd sustained at least one cracked rib at some point during the battle. More likely two or more. Blood dripped from his wounds into what was already a rather worrying pool around his feet. With every drop that fell to the ground, he could feel what little strength he had left slip away even more.

Stubbornly, he refused to bow to his momentary weakness. Ignoring the sickening metallic smell of the life-giving liquid spreading on the ground beneath him, he focused all his remaining strength on searching the area for what he needed to see most of all at that moment.

"Inu-Yasha!"

A voice was calling out his name.

The cry was vastly overpowered by the crowd's celebrations, but the twitching of the half-Youkai's furry ears showed that he had heard it, as did his slow turn towards the direction it had come from. Such a simple movement... yet it took everything he had within him to do it.

The last thing Inu-Yasha saw before the darkness rushed in and claimed him was Kagome running towards him across the arena.

- - -

"You are certain he will recover?" Was that Sesshoumaru's voice? He sounded... mildly concerned.

"Oh yes. He'll be just fine. Ah, in fact, I do believe he's coming around now."

There was something familiar about that soft, yet irritatingly cheerful, voice. As Inu-Yasha tried to place it, the events of the past few hours rushed into his mind and his eyes snapped open.

"Naraku! Where is he? Did I kill him?" He started to sit up and growled when a hand planted itself on his chest and refused to allow him to do so. "Let me go!" He looked up and then blinked, shocked into silence at the realisation that the hand belonged to his older brother.

"Fool."

Sesshoumaru always had been rather good at choosing the exact words required to truly irritate his half-sibling.

Inu-Yasha's growl filled the small room as he glared at his brother. "What are you doing here?" He looked around as best he could without moving more than his head, since his brother was pressing firmly enough on his chest to keep him in place. There was no way he was going to give Sesshoumaru the satisfaction of knowing that he was hurting him, though. "Where are Kagome and the others?"

"They are waiting outside." The soft voice came again and this time the speaker moved into Inu-Yasha's line of sight. The half-Youkai wasn't surprised to see that it was the young medic with the white-blonde hair who had healed his ears after the third round of the contest. He knew he had known that voice from somewhere.

Oddly though... he had the strangest feeling that wasn't where he'd recognised it from.

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind for later consideration, Inu-Yasha focused his attention on getting some answers. "What about Naraku? Is he still alive?"

Sesshoumaru growled softly. "There is a spell in place to prevent death." His tone of voice made it clear that he was annoyed that Inu-Yasha hadn't been paying attention when that was explained to them earlier in the competition.

Inu-Yasha did not look away from the medic, his golden eyes pinning him with a searching gaze. "Yeah. But if that were completely true then the announcer wouldn't have said what he did after the first round." As his brother frowned slightly, Inu-Yasha kept his eyes steady on the young man standing by the side of his bed. "He gave us the choice to continue after each round... 'to keep the death toll to a minimum'."

The medic looked a little uncomfortable... and his unease was probably not just because of how bad Inu-Yasha's mimicry of the announcer had been. "You are right. Although there is a spell in place over the arena that prevents death... it is not infallible. Youkai are as varied in form as they are in power and some combinations of both have rendered the spell useless on occasion. Not this year, however. Naraku lives." His voice was serious and perhaps a little relieved.

Inu-Yasha's eyes narrowed. "You don't sound unhappy about that." His voice was a low growl.

Blinking, the medic looked at Inu-Yasha as if he'd just grown another head and it was purple with green horns. "I am a medic for this challenge. It is my job to ensure that all contestants leave here as alive as they were when they arrived." He shrugged. "My personal feelings must never get in the way of my duty to my patients, and I would be thoroughly ashamed of myself if they ever did so."

The half-Youkai had the grace to look a little ashamed, himself. "Oh. Right. Sorry. I didn't think of that."

With a nod of acceptance for the apology, the medic smiled at Inu-Yasha. "Now that we have sorted that out... do you feel up to visitors? There are a few people who really should see you soon... preferably before they wear out the hall tiles with their pacing." He grinned and Inu-Yasha couldn't help but smile back as he nodded. "Oh good. I will just go and... ah... they are here."

Inu-Yasha never did work out what surprised him more about the events of the three seconds that followed. That Kagome, Sango, Shippo, Miroku, Kirara, Rin, Jaken, Kouga, Hakkaku, Ginta and even Kagura had apparently known the moment they could see him; that they were all somehow able to get into the room at the same time with only Jaken getting squished in the doorway; or that even with all those other people crowed into the very small room, Sesshoumaru still managed to keep from getting jostled. His fluffy thing wasn't even stepped on once.

With everyone all talking at once, it took a little while for Inu-Yasha to sort out all the questions that were fired at him so he could answer them.

Yes, he felt fine.

Yes, he knew that Naraku was still alive and yes he was annoyed about it too.

No, he couldn't have tried harder to kill Naraku and could someone please hit Jaken on the head for asking that?

Yes, he was sure he felt fine.

Yes, he felt even better after Miroku hit Jaken for him.

No, he hadn't heard that Jakotsu had tearfully attempted to glomp the badly injured Naraku when he'd been brought in, or that he had insisted on personally nursing him back to health.

Yes, he did find that mental image both amusing and very, very disturbing.

No, he hadn't known that Naraku had been planning to resist any attempt at sending him back to the Feudal Era so he could take over modern-day Japan.

No, he wasn't surprised by it. He would have been more surprised if Naraku hadn't been planning something like that.

Yes, he was very happy to hear that Naraku was going to be sent back to his time before he regained consciousness so he couldn't try anything like that... but why was Kagura looking so smug about that?

As he asked that question, all eyes in the room turned to look at Kagura. Inu-Yasha was right, she was looking very much like Kirara when she had a plate of freshly cooked fish in front of her.

Miroku asked what they were all wondering. "Is there a reason why you are smiling like that?"

Shippo added the other thing they were all thinking. "Yeah, it's kind of scary."

Kagura's smile widened as she looked around at them. "Oh, it's nothing much. Just that I've been told that when Naraku gets sent back, Kanna and I don't have to go with him. We can stay and enjoy the carnival that's being held along with this competition, and even the festival they're holding tonight. Best of all, we will be sent back to the same time as Naraku... so he will never know about it." Her red eyes gleamed and her smile revealed how delighted she was about it.

The others snickered at the thought of Naraku being tricked.

Amid the round of congratulations that followed, only Sesshoumaru remained silent. He seemed to be lost in thought... or contemplating killing everyone in the room because their noise was annoying him. One of the two.

When the noise began to die down, he turned his head and fixed Kagura with a piercing gaze that she returned with her usual defiant 'what do you want?' look.

"Rin wishes to visit the carnival this afternoon. You will accompany us and use your wind to keep away any... irritations... that attempt to approach us." His voice was flat - emotionless - but his eyes seemed more intense than usual. It had not been a request, yet he seemed to be waiting for a reply anyway.

"Irritations?" Jaken's confused voice broke the silence that had descended on the room at Sesshoumaru's surprising statement.

"He probably means fangirls. They can be dangerous when provoked... or when they see something really cute." Shippo shuddered at the memory of his own brush with them.

Jaken also shuddered at the thought of what could happen to his Sesshoumaru-sama.

Kagura blinked, the two little youkai's conversation barely registering with her as she tried to work out what had just happened. Sesshoumaru's sudden announcement had left her stunned and far more hopeful than she would ever admit to feeling.

Had Lord Fluffy really just asked her out on a... date?

Belatedly, Kagura realised that she still hadn't replied. "Uh... I suppose I could... assist you. For the sake of the child." She did her best to sound as offhand as his invitation had been.

It must have been a trick of the light that made Sesshoumaru look like he was smiling slightly as he nodded curtly to her. "The hotel reception desk in one hour." He headed for the door, the others quickly moving out of his way as he threatened to walk over them if they didn't. "Rin. Jaken. We are leaving."

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama." Rin waved to everyone as she trotted happily after her hero.

"Of course, Sesshoumaru-sama." Jaken, still looking rather shocked at his lordship's sudden wish for the company of a female... and Naraku's underling at that... followed him as well.

With Sesshoumaru gone, Inu-Yasha was finally able to sit up. He looked around and frowned when he realised that, during all the confusion of his friends' arrival and congratulations, the medic had vanished. "You know... this whole contest thing has been one weird thing after another." He looked at the others. "We were all brought here to face each other, there are people here who we saw die ages ago, that medic reminds me of someone and so does that announcer and there's something odd about the Judge too. I know I haven't seen his attacks before, but I keep thinking they're familiar. I think we should go back home as soon as possible."

Kagura came out of her daze and glanced sharply at Inu-Yasha. "You too?"

"But I want to go see the carnival!" Shippo glared at Inu-Yasha. "The fighting's all over, so why can't we have some fun while we're here?"

"Hush a moment, Shippo." Kagome picked up the pouting Youkai and hugged him as she looked at Kagura. "What do you mean, 'you too'? You seemed glad that you weren't going straight back."

Kagura shook her head. "No, I don't mean that. I was talking to Sesshoumaru for a while earlier. He said something similar. Not about the medic or the announcer, or going back, just about the Judge. He doesn't remember those attacks, but he has the feeling he's seen them somewhere before, too."

Inu-Yasha frowned. "That's really strange."

"It is indeed." Miroku looked very serious. "Perhaps we had best remain on our guard while we are here."

Sango gritted her teeth and glared at him. "Don't say such things... while you're touching me there!" She whirled around, escaping the hand that had been groping her bottom as she delivered her punishment.

Miroku sighed and picked himself up from the ground, his hand now cupping his reddened cheek. "I could not help it. My hand has a mind of its own."

Ignoring the exterminator and the priest as they began one of their usual 'hands do not have minds of their own, only perverted monks do' arguments, Inu-Yasha looked around at the others. "So what do you think? Should we go or stay and see what happens?"

Kouga shrugged. "I say we stay and beat up anyone who tries to take us on." He grinned and seemed to be looking forward to the idea of a possible fight. Hakkaku and Ginta both sighed the sigh of a long-suffering minion at their leader's enthusiasm.

"What I want to know is... how come we were the ones chosen for the main event?" Shippo looked around at the others. "Jaken and I aren't all that strong and Kanna's not much stronger. But we were invited just like Inu-Yasha, Kouga, Sesshoumaru, Kagura and Naraku. There are a lot of much stronger Youkai in the Feudal area, so why us?"

Everyone went still and blinked at the small fox Youkai who had just said something that sounded far older than he looked.

"Shippo has a point there." Miroku looked uneasily at Inu-Yasha. "It does seem most strange that it was only those who oppose Naraku who were invited to participate here. Do you suppose all of this was some plan of Naraku's?"

Before Inu-Yasha could reply, Kagura shook her head and spoke up. "No. I was with him when we received our invitations and he was as surprised as I was. I know he had some plan for while he was here, and I know it included all of you. He had something to ensure your involvement." She looked at Sango. "Kohaku came here with us. All he's told him to do is stay in our room, though, so whatever he was planning must have been more important to him than causing you pain. If he'd wanted to do that, he would have just taken him into the room we were all in between rounds."

As the others nodded in agreement with that assessment, Sango's eyes lit up. "Kohaku? My brother is here?" She looked like she wanted to go to him right away.

Kagura nodded. "Yeah. But he's still under Naraku's full control. At least... I think he is." She frowned slightly. "Maybe it will weaken once Naraku's back in the past."

"No, it won't weaken on its own. However, that young medic who was here earlier is already on his way up to the boy to do what he can about it. He should be able to at least have some fun at the carnival and also the festival tonight." The voice from the doorway caused everyone in the room to turn towards it in surprise. Inu-Yasha quickly slipped off the bed and both he and Kouga tensed in preparation for whatever might happen. Their movements had an odd effect on the speaker, though.

The announcer smiled.

"I am glad to see you are both back to full health, again." He waved his hand at them in a vague 'now put your swords away like good boys' motion and looked around the room. "Forgive my interruption, but I was passing by and happened to catch some of your very interesting discussion. I thought you all deserved to know the answer to the young one's question." He smiled at Shippo.

"My question?" Shippo barely had time to speak before Inu-Yasha growled.

"How come he gets his question answered but we don't? We want to know what the deal is with this contest!" He glared at the announcer, who merely looked calmly back at him.

"I will answer Shippo's question because it has an answer that I can give. I do not know what Naraku's plans were for the young boy he brought through time with him, so I cannot comment on that. Likewise, I do not know why the Judge is familiar to you and Sesshoumaru, Inu-Yasha."

Miroku frowned. "Just how long were you 'passing by' this room?"

The announcer cleared his throat and pretended not to have heard that question that he also had no intention of answering. "Normally, this annual Youkai competition of strength and skill will be held only for Youkai in the present era. This year was an exception because someone on the planning committee decided that it would be... I believe the word used was 'fun'... to bring together a group of powerful Youkai and half-Youkai from various times to battle it out for the title of History's Strongest Youkai. During the discussion about it, however, some bright spark thought to mention the battle for the Jewel of Four Souls, between Naraku and the... for want of a better term... Forces of Good." He eyed the group before him and shrugged. "Well... I suppose you lot qualify, more or less. Anyway... The committee was very enthusiastic about having such a wonderful theme for the main event, and so arrangements were made to bring you all here. Being the first year this competition has been held, everyone was eager for it to be memorable. The rest, you know."

Kagome stared at the announcer. "You mean... all of this was just... for publicity?"

As the others blinked in confusion at Kagome and her apparent understanding of what he had just said, the announcer shook his head. "Oh no, not at all!" He smiled serenely. "The Feudal Era Feud not only made for a wonderful advertising campaign, but sales for all the various commemorative items have been phenomenal."

Kagome lowered her head. "You got us all here... you pulled us all through time... you made them battle each other and get so badly hurt... and it was all for..." Her soft, low voice made her friends inch cautiously away from her. The announcer seemed to sense the impending doom as well.

"Oh no! Of course there were two other reasons. Much more important ones." He spoke quickly as he very slowly began to back out of the doorway he was still standing in.

"What?"

Never had one word been so loaded with the threat of physical violence if the answer was not liked.

"We all knew that Naraku had been making things difficult for all of you. That you were having trouble finding him, let alone facing him. So we arranged this so all of you could have a chance to... let off a bit of steam in his direction, shall we say? It was obvious from the start that the last battle would be either Inu-Yasha or Sesshoumaru against Naraku. Think of this as... practice for the real thing." He looked at Inu-Yasha. "Now you know... that you can defeat him."

Never had one answer been so carefully prepared just in case of such a question being asked.

"Feh. I knew that already." Inu-Yasha shrugged, but his earlier tension had left him.

"You said there were two reasons. What's the other?" Kagome had also calmed considerably, although she eyed the announcer rather suspiciously, as if she didn't quite believe him.

"Ah... yes... well..." The announcer smiled slightly. "Let us just say that when Naraku goes back to his time... his daughters will be able to have some fun." Having said that, he quickly ducked out of sight.

As he was heard running off down the hall, everyone in the room looked at each other in confusion.

Inu-Yasha summed up all their thoughts. "What was that about?"

Kagura shook her head. "No idea. But I have more important things to bother about. Later." She waved as she headed with deliberately slow steps to the door.

It wouldn't do for anyone to realise how eagerly she wanted to return to her room and prepare for her maybe-date with Sesshoumaru, after all.

Inu-Yasha waited for Kagura to leave before looking at the others. "So... are we staying?"

Sango nodded quickly, then blushed and looked down at the ground. "I... I would like to."

"You wish to see if he was right about Kohaku, correct?" Miroku smiled gently at her.

"Yes." Sango looked at Inu-Yasha and her words almost tumbled over themselves. "He said that Kohaku might be able to go the carnival and I wish to go there with him."

Inu-Yasha grinned and nodded. "All right. Then we'll stay tonight. We'll keep our eyes open and if anything happens, we'll deal with it."

Sango's look of gratitude was enough to make him look away, his cheeks flaming slightly.

As Miroku tried to get Sango to agree to his joining her and her brother, Kouga grinned. He'd been moving around the room while everyone had been talking and he was finally in position on the opposite side of Kagome to that blasted mutt. He moved, starting to talk to her as his arm lifted and he began to lean in towards her. "Kagome... would you like to..."

"Everyone! Come and look at this! Quickly!"

Kagome turned to look at the doorway, where a very flushed and wide-eyed Kagura was poking her head inside the room. The female Youkai gestured for them to hurry up and then moved away again. "I wonder what's wrong?" Kagome hurried for the door with the others right behind her.

Hakkaku and Ginta sighed at each other. "Kouga nearly got to put his arm around her. Shame she moved just then." Hakkaku winced.

Ginta nodded. "Yeah. He's still not quite recovered or else he wouldn't have overbalanced like that."

They went to help their leader up from the floor.

- - -

Kagura was standing at the end of the hall, peeking around the corner. She glanced around as the others approached and motioned for them to be quiet and have a look as well. Carefully, they all did so.

The room beyond the hall was apparently some sort of waiting room. There were chairs along the walls and unlike the rest of the infirmary, this room actually had some colour. Although the floor was the same white tiles as everywhere else, the room's chairs were all a soft shade of peach that joined with the creamy hue of the walls to create a soothing and calming feeling.

Maybe that was why the little female youkai sitting on one of the chairs looked so happy. Or perhaps it was because it was the first time in her life that Kanna had ever worn such a pretty yukata. Deep pink and patterned with red, violet and light pink flowers, the colours went well with the soft rosy hue of her normally pale cheeks.

The onlookers were all still trying to get over how different, and colourful, Kanna looked when someone passed by them. They might not have noticed him except for the soft chuckle he released as he did so.

As the girls blushed in embarrassment at being caught spying and the boys all tried to work out how they'd missed hearing him approaching, the Judge crossed the room to where Kanna had stood and seemed to be waiting for him.

"Are you ready to go, my dear?"

Kanna nodded and Kagura finally found her voice.

"Wait a minute! Where are you taking her?" She moved into the room and glared at the Judge as if suspecting him of having improper plans for her sister.

Kanna looked at Kagura and smiled a very sweet smile. "He is taking me to the carnival to have fun. Naraku is not here and I have been freed of his control over me for tonight." Her voice was louder than normal, although still very soft.

"Naraku's... control..." Kagura's eyes widened and she looked like she was in shock. "Then... this is..." She seemed to be looking at her sister in an entirely new light.

The Judge shook his head. "This is merely what Kanna is like inside her heart. It is not what she would be like if Naraku did not exist. You could say that her dreams have been turned into reality. Just for tonight. Since time is so short... I hope you will excuse us now." He took the girl's hand and there was a shimmer of light as they both vanished.

Inu-Yasha and the others joined Kagura, except Shippo who instead bounded over to where the Judge had been standing and picked up the item that lay on the floor. He turned back to the others and held up the Judge's hooded cloak. "Looks like he doesn't mind if she sees what he looks like."

Kagome smiled. "Maybe we'll see them tonight and find that out as well. We're all going to be in the same place, right?" She looked at the boy standing beside her.

"Yeah." Inu-Yasha grinned and nodded as he took Kagome's hand. "Come on. We might as well get going too."

Kagura shook herself out of her daze as his words reminded her of her own plans for that night. She turned to Sango. "Naraku put Kanna, Kohaku and I in the one room. He had the room next door."

Sango nodded. "I'll come with you and see if he wants to explore the carnival with us."

- - -

Later that night, the Festival of Colours was in full swing. It was the closing celebration of the Youkai Strength Competition and the crowd was made up of humans and every type of youkai imaginable, all having fun together in harmony with none of the tension that normally existed between their races. It was almost over, but the reason for the festival's name was still to come.

Kagura looked into a pair of deep golden eyes and smiled slightly. She stood off to one side of the crowd gathered on the banks of the river to watch the show that was about to begin. The tall, silver-haired Youkai Lord standing beside her looked silently back at her and Kagura knew that her heart would be beating faster if Naraku had not taken it to keep her under control. She wondered for a moment if it would still do so, then shook off the thought and returned her attention to the eyes looking into her own; too content to be with Sesshoumaru and the little girl to think about such things just then. A loud sound echoed through the air and Kagura winced as Rin's voice rose above the noise of the crowd.

"Jaken-sama... why are you in the water?"

"Foolish girl! Do you think I want to be? Someone bumped me and I fell in! Now help me out!"

Hakkaku and Ginta both snickered as they watched the little green Youkai flailing about in the water from their perches up in the branches of a nearby tree. They turned to point out the funny sight to their leader, then quickly returned their attention to the waterlogged minion when they saw that all of Kouga's attention was elsewhere. They really didn't want to have to listen to him rant. It was bad enough that his jealous growling was catching the attention of the people around them. Really, their leader's crush on Kagome could get very embarrassing, sometimes.

Nearby, Miroku had also noticed Kouga's preoccupation and was pointing it out to his companion, relishing the chance to lean close and whisper in her ear. They were sitting side by side on the grassy slope that led down to the open stretch of grass beside the river where most of the crowd had gathered, but with Sango spending most of her time paying attention to a happy and smiling Kohaku sitting on her other side, he'd been feeling a little neglected. As he leaned slightly against her side, that feeling changed to one of supreme contentment.

Another loud sound echoed through the air.

Shippo winced. "Did she seem to slap him harder than usual that time?"

Kagome sighed and nodded. "Well you can't really blame him. That was pretty bad timing on his part. She was in just the right mood, too." She sighed again and Shippo sighed too as he nodded.

"The right mood for what?"

Kagome jumped as Inu-Yasha's voice came right in her ear. She turned her head and then froze as she came within an inch of being nose to nose with him. For a moment that seemed to stretch for an eternity, they were both silent and still. Then they quickly looked away, their cheeks heating.

Shippo sighed and shook his head. "Another good mood wasted."

Yet another loud sound echoed through the air and Kagome clapped her hands. "Oh! Look, Inu-Yasha!" She pointed to the sky. "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"

"No. Nothing." As Kagome turned to smile at him, Inu-Yasha quickly looked away from her and up into the sky, which was beginning to fill with colour.

As the fireworks shot into the sky and exploded into brightly coloured starbursts, everyone admired them and agreed that it was the perfect way to end the Youkai Strength Competition.

Well... almost everyone admired them... There were two who had something else on their minds.

Hidden from the crowd below by the thick green leaves of the tree they were sitting in, the female rested her head against the soft, light brown fabric covering her male companion's chest. She was in front of him, his arms around her and holding her safely despite their precarious perch. Her hand lightly traced the red and gold fire design around the bottom of one of his sleeves and she moved her head a little, snuggling into his warmth. He bowed his head and she smiled as his long reddish-brown hair brushed her face moments before his kiss brushed her forehead. Opening her eyes, she looked into the emerald green eyes of her dearest, and only, friend. "Thank you. I am happy."

The two small furry ears poking out of his hair on top of his hair twitched at her voice and he smiled back at her. "I knew you would be. That's why I did it."

His long, fluffy tail twitched at the memory of his rash idea and how much trouble he had needed to go to in order for him to arrange it all. Making a bargain with a dragon who could journey through time had been the easiest part. Organising the competition and arranging for the group from the Feudal Era to be brought through time to take part in it had been a challenge and then there had been the fake Chain of Light attack that had covered the sleep spell, so it had looked as if she had collapsed. Yes, it had all been a lot of trouble, but... He knew it had been worth it.

The fireworks filled the sky with colour but the young Youkai didn't even notice. To him, Kanna's happy smile was far more beautiful.

"Happy Birthday, Kanna."

The End


End file.
